Memories: a Sequel
by VoteSaxon45
Summary: A sequel to Memories - as you can tell by the title. Co-written by Kate. Also, timelines get a bit screwed up so just prepare for that.
1. Chapter 1

Three Years Later

I snatched my handgun and sprinted through the Hub, following Jack close behind. He and I ran out of the Hub and as I looked over my shoulder, I saw Ianto following us and holding the Weevil net. We rounded the corner and stopped dead; the Weevil was straight ahead of us, staring through us with beady, black eyes. I froze, holding the Weevil spray. Jack inched closer, holding his gun at the ready. The Weevil glared at us and then snarled, preparing to lunge. Suddenly, I felt a row of sharp, yellow teeth sink into my left shoulder and I screamed. Ianto wrenched the Weevil off of me, taking a huge chunk of my shoulder with it, and emptied his gun into its head, spraying its blood everywhere. I tried not to scream as I took off my shirt and wadded it up into a ball, then pressed it firmly to the gaping hole in my shoulder as they took care of the first Weevil. I could taste bile in the back of my throat, but I forced it down, the blood still dripping down my arm.

I was taking harsh, shallow, breaths when _it_ happened again: a flash of random images came together in my mind and eyes, and I felt like I was there. A memory. And not of the Doctor, or Rose, or the Master, or Puella, or Yen, or even of Torchwood: a memory of things that happened _before_ all that happened. But they never stayed. They always disappeared, fading away like wind. This time was faster with a ton of images, some that I've seen, and some new ones: a little girl with pigtails, a boy in a red shirt, the scent of chemicals and fire, lights so bright that they blinded me for a moment, someone's hand around my shoulder, and feeling happier than anything else. But someone calling my name brought me back. "Blue! Blue! Are you okay?" I looked over at Jack and mumbled, "That's actually kinda a big question to ask right now," glancing at my bloody shoulder. Ianto took my right shoulder and helped me get back to the building. Gwen was in the lobby, and looked up when we came back in. Her dark eyes went rounder, and she cried, "Blue! Are you okay?"

"Is that everybody's favorite question right now?" I snapped. Immediately I realized how rude that sounded and bit my lip. "Sorry. Kinda in a lot of pain right now." She nodded. Ianto helped me to the med bay, where Owen was washing some of his supplies. He looked up, and snapped, "What the fuck happened to you?" I gritted my teeth, trying not to make a smart remark. He sat me down in a chair and Ianto left. He tore off the shirt I had placed over the wound, grimaced and went over to one of the cupboards to grab two objects from it: a rag and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. The doctor stuffed the rag in my mouth and got a bottle of cotton balls and put some of the alcohol on them. I braced myself for agony as he cleaned out the wound. The burning sensation crawled everywhere, and I yelled, but it was muffled by the rag. As he yanked the rag out of my mouth and began to stitch the hole up, he said, "Can't believe this was only your second mission." I nodded grimly. "Yeah. Jack prolly won't let me go on a mission again for months."

"That's a good thing."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, so I won't have to stay around in this fucking lab and bollocks myself. D'you have any idea the kind of shit I've got to deal with?"

"Uh… sorta."

"I've got to deal with the fuckin' Weevils, Blowfish, fuckin' tourists, Myfanwy, every shitty thing in this hellhole."

"Oh." He finished stitching the wound and started to bandage it. I couldn't think of anything else to say until he finished bandaging it. "Thanks," I mumbled, and I left to go to the lobby.

As I was walking down the hall, Tosh ran up to me. "Blue! I heard about what happened!" I looked at her and nodded. "And this was only my second mission." I whispered. She nodded sympathetically. "I don't want to go back to having a desk job." I said.

"I don't blame you." she said. "I'll try to talk some sense into him the next time I see him, alright?" Tosh said with a small smile and warm eyes. I weakly returned her smile and saw Ianto approaching with a sympathetic look in his eyes. I instantly knew something was wrong. "Erm, Blue - "

"What the hell is it? Can't I just fucking rest for one fucking minute?"

Tosh tried to contain her laughter and she ended up with a little chortle. "You've been spending too much time with Owen." she muttered. Owen scowled at her and told her to "Fuck off," before turning back and cleaning his supplies. I instantly realized my language and blushed. Owen had been my go-to-guy ever since I got here. I mean, Tosh, Gwen, Ianto, and Jack were nice enough, but Owen really seemed to get it. And it would help that he would stay silent and listen while he did his work and I ranted to him, occasionally cussing someone out and growling. Not a lot of people wanted to even be around Owen in normal-day circumstances, nevertheless _voluntarily_ hang out with him. The team didn't seem to mind, and it might just've been me, but Tosh seemed to have the hots for him. I'd gotten quite good at reading people in my time at Torchwood. Ianto cleared his throat and barely smiled, glancing down at the clipboard in his hands. "Sorry, Yan. What d'you need?"

"Jack wants to see you."

"Fuck."

Tosh giggled again and scurried off, as Owen looked like he was about to sock her. "In his office." Ianto continued. I nodded and flashed a smile at Owen, who returned it sympathetically and continued tidying the med bay. I started marching to Jack's office, but Ianto stopped me, glancing down at my torso. "You might want to put a shirt on. Jack's not happy, but… that won't make a difference."

I looked down at myself and found that I was only wearing a bra. It finally hit me that I'd taken off my shirt and was shirtless the entire time since. I didn't blush, nor minded much. During my three years here I'd seen more of both Ianto _and_ Jack then I'd ever wanted to see, and the Hub was like home to me. Sometimes Tosh or Gwen let me go to their houses to stay the night but most nights I slept in the Hub like Jack did - unless he went home with Ianto, or some random guy, girl, unspecified, or alien that he'd happened to meet and was willing to have a shag. I thanked Ianto and I went into my room to grab a shirt. After about two seconds of looking I grabbed a black t-shirt, put it on, and walked down the hall to Jack's office. I opened the office door, and I was just about to say something as I walked in, but then Jack said, "Oh, sidebangs! Sexy!" noticing my new hairstyle.

"Oi!" I yelled, then blushed. I prided myself on being the most American of the group, but three years of living in England was taking its toll. I sat down. "I'm sorry about what happened, and I get that I'm probably gonna get stuck doing desk jobs again." I grumbled. Jack's face was red, and he seemed to try to calm himself before speaking. "What the hell were you doing out there?" he finally demanded. His harsh tone cut me like a knife, as I looked up to him, and I cleared my throat, preparing to answer before he cut me off. "You could've died out there, and who was that on? _Me_. _I've_ got to deal with your shit every time you get hurt!"

 _I've only gotten hurt once._ I didn't say that and kept silent.

" _I'm_ responsible for you and everything you do, so you need to keep yourself safe, or I'll keep you in a desk job. _Permanently_."

I felt my face getting warm. Jack took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, putting his face in his hands. "Okay. There's something else I needed to talk to you about."

"What?"

"Those...flashbacks that you've been having. They've been happening a lot, right?"

"I guess."

"What've you been seeing?"

"Well, fragments of what I assume are my memories before the Master. And… well, the stuff that happened in the penitentiary."

Jack analyzed me with his steely blue eyes and paused. I squirmed under his gaze and twiddled my thumbs. I'd told him and the team about everything that had happened in the penitentiary and what the Master had said about my memory being in two places. I had also told him about the supposed 'special features' I had, but since there didn't seem to be anything remarkable about me, I'd started to doubt that I had any. "What did you call me in for? Y'know, other than to chew me out."

Jack shook his head and waved his hand. "Nothing. It's not important. You're back in a desk job until that shoulder's better."

The Doctor and Rose sprinted hand-in-handed through the Dalek Base Camp, nimbly dodging extermination rays and rubble from the explosions littering debris around them. They ducked into a service lift and crouched low, mashing the button to go down and laughing all the time. When they got to the main floor of the Dalek Base Camp, they crawled out of the lift and looked around cautiously before walking down the only corridor in front of them. "Well, this is quite the chase!" the Doctor said. Rose linked her fingers with his and smiled up at him. "Yeah. I like it."

"So do I."

A pause, and then Rose spoke again. "How d'you think Blue is doing?" she asked quietly. The Doctor blew out a breath through puffed out cheeks and used his free hand to run it through his hair, ending up scratching the back of his neck and tugging on his ear. "I dunno. I trust Jack. He'll keep her safe."

" _ **EX-TER-MINATE! THE DOC-TOR IS DE-TEC-TED! HE WILL BE EX-TER-MINATED! EX-TER-MINATE! EX-TER-MINATE!**_ " The two heard the Dalek's screams long before it entered the corridor. They turned round quickly and sprinted down the corridor they came from, frantically looking for a way out. Finding none but the service lift, which some Dalek must be guarding, they turned and held each other's hands tighter. There was no way out of this. This was planned. It was a trap. Clever, clever Daleks. The Doctor admonished himself silently, cursing himself for putting Rose in this sort of danger. Forget him, he needed a way to get Rose out. He turned to her and looked her straight in her deep, brown eyes with sorrow. "I need you to get in the lift." he said darkly.

"What?"

"Get in the lift. There's not a big chance you'll survive, but there is a chance."

"And what about you?"

He pressed the TARDIS key into her hand, avoiding an answer. "Once you're safe, go to the TARDIS. Tell her to take you home. She'll know what to do."

"What about you?" Rose repeated.

"Don't worry about me. Tell Jackie what's happened, and then be a normal human."

"I - I can't. Not without you. My Doctor." Rose smiled dreamily, reaching up a hand and softly stroking his face. His face flickered with the slightest hint of a smile but then it was gone, and he took her hand down, the greatest pain shining in his eyes. "You need to listen to me. You need to do what I say. This once, Rose, _just this once,_ you need to listen to me."

"No."

"What?"

"No. If those Daleks are gonna kill my Doctor, they'll have to kill me too."

"Rose, you know I can't - "

"I'm not gonna argue with you."

Rose grabbed his hand, a determined look on her lovely face, and they faced forward, where the Dalek would be rounding the corner any second. And so it did. But it wasn't a Dalek. The "Dalek" was none other than Captain Jack Harkness, in Dalek armor designed much like Davros', so that his torso was free to do what he liked but his legs and waist were covered by the machine and it maneuvered wherever he liked it to and made him sound like a Dalek. "What?" the Doctor demanded with narrowed eyes and an incredulous face. Jack's face broke out into a grin. "Doctor! And who's that? My little flower girl?"

He leapt from the chair and sprinted toward them, wrapping his arms around Rose and lifting her into the air, swinging her around, and then he set her down. With the Doctor, however, he planted a long, wet kiss on his lips, trying to sneak in a bit of tongue before the Doctor pulled away, objecting loudly and wiping his lips. "Jack!" he sputtered. The man only shrugged and winked at Rose. "One of these days, he'll kiss me back, you know." he said. Rose laughed and rolled her eyes. The Doctor looked down the corridor anxiously. "So… there's no Dalek?"

"Nope. Well, there was."

"And?"

"It died."

The Doctor grinned boyishly. "Right! Let's get back to the TARDIS, then!"

Rose tossed him the TARDIS key, but Jack intercepted it before the Doctor could catch it. Jack smirked and squeezed into the tiny service lift, the Doctor and Rose following suit. On the slow ascent to the main level, he attempted at conversation. "It's quite cramped in here."

The Doctor nodded and looked up.

"T'is, innit?"

"Quite close quarters."

"Erm… no."

"One of these days, Doctor. Not while Rose is around, perhaps. But I'll find a way to get you alone."

"Oi!"

"Sorry, Rosie."

"Whatever, Jack." Rose laughed. She found it hard to get mad at Jack. He laughed alongside, and the Doctor spoke again. "How's the team?"

"What? Oh, Torchwood? We're doing good. Pretty busy lately, but we were prepared for all the Rift activity."

"How? The Rift is unpredictable!"

"Not quite, Doctor. We've been able to construct a device that can predict Rift activity. Sometimes it doesn't pick up some things, and sometimes it's off, but we do the best we can, and we're damn good at it."

"Don't swear. How's Ianto?"

"Oh, Ianto? He's amazing. Simply _fantastic._ " Jack winked. The Doctor grimaced.

"Toshiko and Owen?"

"Same as ever. Smart and gorgeous, and bull-headed and bloody stupid."

"Gwen?"

"She's fine. Rhys and her are engaged now."

"Good for them. You must give them my congrats."

"Will do, Doc. They'll be thrilled."

"How's Blue?"

"She's doing great." Jack lied. He avoided telling the Doctor about the Weevil incident. The Doctor was one of the two most important men in the Universe to Jack and he didn't want to let him down. Of course, he didn't want to let Ianto down by being late to their "dentist" appointment. Which is why he reached inside the Doctor's coat and snatched his screwdriver, using it to speed up the lift. "Oi!" the Doctor shouted as the lift skyrocketed, screeching to a halt at the main level of the Camp. They crammed out of the lift and sprinted through the debris that resulted in the Daleks trying to exterminate the Doctor and Rose. The trio arrived at the TARDIS and hurriedly shoved the key into the lock, scrambling inside and laughing. "Looks like Team TARDIS is back together again!" Jack chortled. Rose laughed harder, along with the Doctor, who recalled their first adventures together, which were the best times of the Doctor's ninth regeneration's life. The Doctor straightened and danced to the console, setting a course for Cardiff, London, Earth, the Milky Way Galaxy. When the TARDIS landed, Ianto, Tosh, Gwen, Owen, and Blue were waiting for them on the docks outside the Tourist Centre. The Doctor introduced himself and gave big, friendly hugs to each of them, followed by Rose, who seemed to catch the eye of Owen. Not a very comforting eye. She squirmed under his gaze and relaxed when Jack got to him, trying to shake his hand and give him a kiss until Owen cussed him out and shot him in the forehead. No one was fazed, they only glanced at his body and continued with their discussions until Jack gasped to life. He stood and brushed himself off, babying his precious blue coat and glaring playfully at Owen, who was holstering his gun. "What the hell was that for?"

"You tried to fucking kiss me."

They heard the Doctor mumbling something about not cursing but they ignored him as he started talking with Tosh about science that no one else fully understood. Jack laughed. "Having a bad day?"

"Well it's no help to you, Captain Sunshine."

"I'll bet you're just worried about Blue."

"I fucking am not."

"Yes, you are. Just admit it."

"Fuck off, Harkness."

"Aw, come off it, huh?" Jack chuckled. Owen snarled at him and turned on his heel to chat quietly with Blue. She seemed anxious, nervously glancing at the Doctor, Rose, and the TARDIS and clenching her sweaty fists.


	2. Chapter 2

"Everything alright?" Owen asked tenderly. I glanced over his shoulder at the Doctor, Rose, and their TARDIS, feeling sweat pooling in my palms. I rubbed them on my shirt to dry them off, but they kept sweating. I could feel my face getting hot, and sweat forming on my brow. "I - I'm fine." I lied. Owen wasn't fooled. "What? You think I was born fucking yesterday?" he snapped. Almost as soon as he said it, he seemed to regret it. "Sorry, Rookie."

A nickname he'd given me when I first arrived.

"D'you wanna go back into the Hub?"

I swallowed bile in my throat and quickly nodded. Owen put his hand on my back, between my shoulder blades, and hurriedly, secretly ushered me into the Tourist Centre, from which we disappeared into the Hub. He took me to the med bay, where we often talked while he worked, and he sat at his stool as I sat on the cold, metal table. "What's a'matter?"

"It's just… they're back. They're back for me, aren't they?"

"Can't know unless you ask them."

"This - this is bollocks. I can't do that again."

Flashbacks surged through me of the awful times I had with the Doctor and his lover. Owen said he thought I might have PTSD from my experiences. "I know." he said comfortingly. He swore under his breath. "We've gotta find a way to get you outta here."

"Can't I just hide in the Hub until they're gone?"

"They're good friends of Jack's. They go way fucking back. He'll want to give them the grand tour of the Hub. We can go out the 'scenic route', okay?"

I nodded. He lead the way to the Hub's 'tourist entrance'. "Owen?" I whispered. "Yeah?" He asked.

"You wanna know something weird?"

"Okay."

"Some parts of me don't want _that_ again... makes me sweat at the thought of it. But _another_ part makes me want to go on those adventures again. I don't know why. Do you have any ideas?" I asked.

Owen looked like he was in deep thought for a moment. But before he could answer, I heard a voice that I didn't recognize: _Sometimes you need to face your fear in order to heal._

"Did you hear that?" I asked Owen. "Hear the hell what?" He asked. "Guess you didn't." I said.

"What the fuck did you hear?" he demanded. I told him. "Don't Goddamn pay any attention! You may have PTSD, and as a doctor, I'm advising you to not _fucking_ do it!"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "I get it, I get it. It wasn't the Master, though."

"And how do you know that, Miss Smartass?"

"It wasn't the Master's voice. I know what his voice sounds like, and that wasn't him."

"The Master's a Time Lord."

"Yeah. And?"

"He can regenerate, correct?"

"Oh." I looked down at my shoes as the lift continued upward. Just as we stepped off, the cog wheel door in Torchwood below started cranking open. I heard the Doctor's voice echoing up from below me like a deep pit into Hell, and I shuddered visibly. Owen put a hand on my shoulder. "You alright?" he wondered softly. I nodded and smiled weakly up at him. "Yeah. I'll be fine. What say we go get some chips?"

"I was thinking a film. 'Aven't been to one of those in a while."

"A movie sounds good."

Owen took my hand as a fatherly gesture and we walked through the Roald Dahl Plass to get a taxi and head to the nearest theater.

The cog door cranked open and the Doctor, Rose, and most of the Torchwood team stepped inside the Hub. The Doctor looked around with his hands in his pockets and an impressed look on his face before turning to Jack. "This is nice. Brilliant! _Molto bene_! Erm, how long've you been here?" he wondered. Jack puffed out his chest with pride. "Oh, about a hundred years, give or take a few." he chuckled. The rest of the team dispersed and Rose clung to the Doctor's hand.

"This is great, really brilliant technology." the Doctor commented.

"I know. We salvaged most of it from the Rift, some of it from the aliens that came _through_ the Rift."

The Doctor meandered around, fiddling with some equipment and examining others, before he finally came to the Rift machine. "What's this, then?" he wondered. Jack grinned up at it. "A Rift machine. From this, we can control the Rift. Sort of. We can kinda turn it off and on."

"Oh. That's interesting, innit?"

"Well, yeah."

The Doctor chuckled to himself and whipped out his screwdriver, examining the interior of the Rift machine. "Now _this_. _This_ is _beautiful!_ " he exclaimed, shoving on his spectacles. Jack allowed himself a small smile as the Doctor examined the machine. But then, the machine started to spit sparks. Fortunately, the Doctor was able to get out of the way of the machine. "Jack? What's going on?" he yelled over the loud noises of the machine dying and roaring back to life. "I dunno!" Jack yelled. But then, the machine stopped sparking and just sat there, smoke steaming off it. The Doctor looked at it carefully, then took out his sonic screwdriver and started to scan the thing. "Oh." he said quietly. Jack looked between him and the machine. "What? What is it?"

"I seem to have done something… wrong to your Rift machine."

"Doctor!"

"What? It's hardly my _fault_ , I didn't know it wasn't advanced enough to be able to handle a little sonicking." the Doctor said, looking affronted. Jack sighed gruffly and put his hands on his hips. "How the hell are we supposed to be able to control the Rift?" he demanded, throwing his arms in the air. The Doctor puffed out air through his cheeks and ran some fingers through his hair. "Well, I suppose I could rebuild and upgrade it for better performance."

"And how long will that take?"

"Oh, maybe two hours? At _most_ two hours."

"Alright, go ahead." Jack sighed. Rose looked around questioningly before turning back to Jack. "Where's Blue?" she wondered. Jack shrugged and gestured vaguely in the direction of the med bay. "Her and Owen might be in the med bay gossiping or who-knows-what they do in there."

Rose turned on her heel and strode toward the med bay, only to find it empty. "Jack?" she called back. "Where else would they be?"

"I dunno! Check Owen's desk!"

She did as much, but no one was there. This time when she called, Jack came to her and put his hands on his hips thoughtfully. "There's no one here." Rose stated. Jack nodded and combed through the Hub for any trace of the two, but found none. "D'you know where they might be?" Rose demanded anxiously when he'd returned to her. He shook his head, and then his eyes widened like he'd just had an idea. He sprinted through the Hub and into his office, Rose close behind, and checked the CCTV for the past hour. There it was - Owen and Blue climbing onto the lift and rising up. He switched the view to scan the Plass, and watched them stride across, toward the city of Cardiff. He scanned their profile pictures through his security database and came up with a few results. Blue and Owen had gone into a movie theater just a taxi ride away from Torchwood. "Dammit, Owen!" Jack exclaimed suddenly, making Rose jump. He looked at her apologetically and then put his face in his hands. When he put them down, Rose was still standing there nervously. "What? Where've they gone?" she wondered quietly. Jack stood and slung his coat over his shoulders. "A movie theater."

"Where're you going?"

"I'm going to get them."

"Why?"

"Because ever since you guys got here, Blue's been acting strange and she needs to see you guys."

"You can wait until the film is over, Jack."

"No, they're avoiding you, and I've got to yell at Owen for taking Blue without my permission or informing me first." he growled, storming out of the office. "You and the Doctor can stay here. Ianto might be able to use your help in the archives."

Rose turned on her heel and made her way to the archives, where she found Ianto flipping through some files and filing others alphabetically. "Hey." she said. He gently closed the file he was looking as and turned to her with a short smile. "Hello."

Rose worked up the nerve to come closer, trying to stop herself from blushing too majorly. Ianto was indeed a handsome man, and Rose couldn't stop herself from being a little bit attracted to him, at least. As well as the suit he wore. She wondered if he wore suits every day, and why. "What're you doing?" she wondered, peeking over his arm to peer at the file in his hands. He quickly put the thing away and straightened his tie, then he cleared his throat and regarded her politely. "Just going through some files. Double-checking our information. You know, the routine stuff."

"Really? Not very exciting, hm?"

"Oh, this job can be very exciting. We do some of the things you and the Doctor do."

"How's that, then?"

"Well, we hunt down aliens and either eliminate or take them to their respective places. Sometimes we have to put them in the vaults."

"You lot deal with aliens still? You know I met the founder of Torchwood. Queen Victoria knighted me and the Doctor personally. Saved her from a werewolf. Well, it wasn't actually a werewolf. Well, it sorta was. And then it bit her and the royal family are werewolves. At least, that's what the Doctor and I think."

"That's interesting, then."

"Yeah. And then she banished us. Didn't think everything we did was 'her world'."

"Oh."

"Maybe I could help you identify some aliens?"

Ianto smiled. "That would certainly be helpful." he said, leading the way out of the archives and to the vaults, where all of their aliens were kept. He pointed to a cell containing a creature with a large, ovular head and pale, yellowish skin. Pinkish tentacles hung from the bottom of its face, and its eyes were slanted and were lined up with small ears on the side of its head. Rose quickly and cautiously examined its eyes and then grinned widely. "That's an Ood." she said matter-of-factly. Ianto regarded the Ood with curiosity and then picked up a clipboard he had tucked between his arm and his side and scribbled something down. "What can you tell me about this… Ood?" he wondered, not taking his eyes off of the creature. Rose sighed and stuck her thumbs in her pockets. "Well, they communicate telepathically and have two brains. One in their head. The other comes out of those tentacle things when it's born."

"Why doesn't this one have a second brain?" Ianto wondered, gesturing at the white orb that hung from a pocket on his shirt. Rose frowned at it. A white cord connected the orb to underneath its tentacles. "Well, that one is enslaved. Or, was, before it fell through the Rift. And it hasn't spoken to you?"

"No. I dunno if it can speak. Can it?"

"Well, with those ball things it can speak, but it looks like it's broken, especially if it hasn't spoken to you."

"What d'you mean, 'enslaved'?"

"Well, most Ood are slaves. Some people say they like it, and they don't really mind. I don't exactly know what to think about them. They're great, they really are."

Ianto scribbled down more notes. "Anything else?"

"Their eyes turn bright red when connected to a hive mind - which is like a bunch of Ood, all speaking telepathically with each other. And they sing. They sing songs, y'know, in their heads." Rose smiled dreamily, biting her bottom lip. Ianto scrawled more notes. He lead her through the vaults, pointing out several different creatures, a few of which Rose had never seen, but the majority of which she had seen. She had to admit that she was liking helping out.

"Thanks for the movie, Owen." I said as we walked out into the lobby, where the sun was shining so brightly, I had to cover my eyes. He smiled and said, "No problem, Rookie." I was holding onto what was left of my popcorn, which I had gotten refilled because of its size. We were just about to leave when Owen stopped dead and grumbled, "Fuck," which could've covered a huge amount of things, but I looked outside and found myself mumbling the same thing. Jack had found us. He stormed into the theater and immediately zeroed in on us. He walked over to us, and I was about to say something when he started shouting at Owen. I silently cursed to myself and didn't really listen to what he was saying, but before I could react Jack had a tight grip on my uninjured arm and he was dragging me out of the theater, earning some strange looks from civilians and curses from Owen. All three of us climbed into the car Jack had brought and he silently drove us home - but not the pleasant kind of silence. The thick, tangible, angry silence. I could practically feel his anger hitting me in the face. We screeched to a halt and climbed out of the car. Jack violently took my arm again and yanked me into the Hub, pulling me up into his office. We passed the Doctor on the way, and I began to sweat anxiously. He'd taken off his jacket and tossed it on Gwen's desk, and his spectacles were on his face. His sonic screwdriver was in his mouth as he meddled with the Rift machine. As we passed, he looked up, raising his eyebrows curiously. I could feel his brown eyes piercing into my back as I tried desperately to not look at him. I glanced over my shoulder and he looked away, took the sonic out of his mouth, and did something to the machine that made sparks fly and made him jump about excitedly, yelling "No, no, oh, no you don't!" and twiddling with the machine. I looked away and we passed Rose and Ianto, laughing and categorizing species. Rose's eye caught mine, and I quickly looked away. Her smile faded and she stared at me as Jack, Owen and I disappeared into Jack's office. He slammed the door behind us and glared, crossing his arms angrily. Just as he was about to start yelling, there was three soft knocks on the door and Ianto opened it, poking his head inside curiously. "Jack? Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Ianto. Go back to work."

Ianto disappeared and closed the door behind him, and I tensed up. "Jack, I'm really sorry. I am. I swear, we won't do it again." He glowered at me, and I knew I was going to get chewed out more than I ever had been. "What the _hell_ is going on here?" He yelled, louder than he ever had. Owen opened his mouth, probably to start yelling back, but I snapped, "It's my fault, okay? I was scared... so fucking scared...and I..." I broke off as tears involuntarily clouded my eyes and sobs started up in my throat.

"What do you mean, 'so scared'?'" Jack snarled. "I thought you'd be _happy_ to see them again!"

"Some of me _is_ happy to see them again... I'm being honest! But another part makes me feel like they're gonna drag me out onto another adventure. I dunno if I'm ready. Some days I feel like I'm ready, and others... like today, I'm scared." I whispered, rubbing my eyes.

Owen looked up at Jack. "I think she may have PTSD." He said quietly.

Jack glared at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Owen said, "Because if you thought she had fucking Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder you wouldn't let her do anything _useful_ or anything that she'd _want_ to fucking do!" he shouted. Jack fumed silently for a moment before turning to me. "What makes _you_ think you've got this?"

"Well, it _was_ pretty traumatic."

"Cut the cute stuff, sweetheart."

"Sorry. Well, I keep getting flashbacks of everything that happened, and when I saw the Doctor and Rose… I panicked. I - I don't want to do that again. It may be all well for you and them, but it's not for me." I said, wiping the tears from my eyes and mopping them off of my face. Before Jack could reply, I began sobbing again, for no other reason than that everything here was full of bullshit. Jack suddenly came toward me and wrapped me in his big man arms. He was so warm and I felt so safe, curled up and crying in his arms. Jack quietly dismissed Owen and the man cussed at him and then opened the door to slip outside. He left the door ajar behind him and Jack's breath caught in his chest. I could hear his heartbeat increasing. I squirmed in his grip enough to see what he was staring at and my face drained of color. Peering in the door with idiotic grins on their faces were the Doctor and Rose. "Hallo!" the Doctor said, wiggling his fingers with a wave. Rose was beaming at me as well, and I found it impossible to breathe or even think. "Been a while, hasn't it?" she said softly.

The Doctor slipped his coat on and tucked his screwdriver and his spectacles in his pocket, meandering over to Rose, who was examining some of the equipment. He laced his fingers with hers and leaned in to whisper in her ear. Her blonde hair tickling his face nearly distracted him, but he kept what he had to say in mind and tried to avoid looking at her lips. "You see that?" he murmured. She looked at him and nodded, and he continued. "You think we should go say hello?"

She nodded excitedly and they worked their way up to Jack's office, but the door was closed. They heard Jack yelling, and Owen yelling back, and Blue saying something softly, but they couldn't make out what she was saying. Finally, there was silence and then Owen opened the door and stormed out, red-eared and huffing. He left the door open in his wake and they peered into the room, where Blue was having some sort of emotional breakdown and Jack was holding her. He looked at them strangely, and then Blue turned and it looked like she'd stopped breathing altogether. Her face was pale as a sheet and her eyes as wide as tea saucers. "Hallo!" the Doctor said, putting on a nice smile and wiggling his fingers in the air. Rose smiled and greeted her as well, and Jack pushed Blue behind him protectively. The Doctor and Rose stood straight, confused. "Jack? Is everything alright?" the Doctor wondered.

"Yeah, Doctor. I just need you two to leave."

"What?"

"You heard me, Doctor. You know I want you here more than anything, but it's not just about me. I would do anything for my team and these people, and that includes asking you to leave. Not forever, just so that Blue can recover."

"It's been three years, Jack, I think she's recovered."

"Owen thinks she has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."

"What? That's not right."

"She's not like you, or me, or Rosie. That was really hard for her, Doctor, and you can't expect her to just say hello and go swanning off around the Universe with you!" he ended in a bit of a yell. The Doctor glared at him for a moment before stuffing his hands in his trouser pockets and shrugging, puffing out his lips. "I suppose you're right. Sorry, Blue. We assumed you'd be okay, and I know you're not now." he apologized sincerely. Blue came out from behind Jack and smiled weakly. "I'm.. I'm sorry. Some days I'm okay, but not today. I dunno when I'm gonna be okay." she said quietly. He nodded, and Rose patted her on her hurt shoulder. Blue winced and cried out, and then the Doctor and Jack exchanged severe glances. "What's happened?" the Doctor demanded. Jack stuttered in trying to tell him, and the Doctor gingerly worked Blue's shirt off of her shoulder and inspected the bandage. It was speckled with red spots where the blood had seeped through. Rose winced at the sight. "What's this?" the Doctor growled at Jack, a dark look in his usually bright eyes. Jack found himself stammering, something he usually never did. Blue looked up at him. "A Weevil got me. But it's not bad!" She said quickly. Rose glanced between the Doctor and Jack, but the Doctor had his teeth gritted and heaving breath was hissing between them. He stood up at his tallest - which was considerably tall - and glared at Jack. "I let her come here so you could _protect_ her, not throw her at creatures!" he yelled. Rose put a hand on his arm to calm him down, but he didn't seem to notice. "Doctor - " Jack stuttered, but the Doctor cut him off. "How can I trust you if I give you one little child to look after and you can't even do _that!_ "

"I'm not a child!"

"If you can't take care of her properly then I'll have to take her back and give her to someone that _can!_ "

Blue stood up to the Doctor, fuming. "I'm not a child, and I'm not just someone you can pass around to whomever you like! I'm staying with Jack, and Ianto, and Tosh, and Owen, and Gwen! You can't make me come with you!"

The Doctor glared at her dangerously. "Is that right!"

Blue kept her resolve and said, "Yes, that's right, you fucking cunt!"

He snatched her arm and began to drag her out of the office, throwing off Rose and Blue screamed for Jack or Owen or _someone_ that could stop the Doctor. Jack fumbled in his belt for his gun before he realized it was in his coat, which was hanging by the door. He began to sprint after Blue and the Doctor until everyone heard an impossibly loud _click._ Ianto was standing his ground in front of the Doctor, pointing his gun directly between the Doctor's eyes. The look on his face was severe and a clear warning. "Let her go, Doctor." he said quietly. The Doctor released Blue and held his hands up. "Now get in your TARDIS and fly away. Rose can go with you if you like, but you're not coming back here until you get it. _Blue doesn't want to come with you._ She's had enough of your bollocks, alright?"

The Doctor nodded and glanced at Rose - an unspoken question was asked. _I'm sorry. Do you still want to come with me?_

Rose glanced between him, Ianto, Blue, and Jack just as the rest of the team got to the scene. "Jack? What's goin' on?" Gwen shouted. No one answered her as Rose took the Doctor's outstretched hand and they quietly walked to the door. The Doctor looked over his shoulder at Blue. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." he said before leaving.


	3. Chapter 3

I could finally breathe. The Doctor and Rose were gone. I burst into tears and let everyone - Ianto, Jack, Gwen, and Tosh - except for Owen embrace me. He stood sulking off to the side, muttering about how Ianto should've shot the Doctor. When the team let me go, he smiled weakly at me. "You alright, Rookie?"

"I'll live."

"How's that shoulder, eh?"

"It's fine." I mumbled. "I'm so tired." I whispered.

He nodded. "It's been a long day, innit?"

"Yeah."

He nodded and started to write something on a piece of paper. "What're you doing?" I asked him.

He handed the paper to me. "It's a prescription. You need to rest for the _entire rest of the day,_ and you need to get one whole night of sleep. And don't _fucking_ get up or do anything too stimulating."

I took the paper and chuckled a bit.

The Doctor and Rose got into the TARDIS and as soon as the door closed behind them, Rose whirled toward the Doctor, hands on her hips and a face like a hurricane. "What the _hell_ was that?" she demanded. The Doctor huffed out a breath and leaned on the console, rushing his hands through his hair. "Well?" Rose demanded. He looked at her with his big puppy-dog eyes. "I'm sorry, Rose. Really, I am."

"Yeah? Sorry doesn't cut it, Doctor. What the _hell_ was all that about?"

"I dunno... I suppose I just panicked. I didn't want to lose her. It's my fault, Rose. It's my fault she's all… wrong inside."

"She's not wrong inside, Doctor."

"PTSD? Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Rose? And I _know_ she's got some sort of anxiety disorder. I mean, she was sweating, she couldn't relax, she was _certainly_ frightened. She might even have a panic disorder. Even if she doesn't… it's still my fault. I did this to her, Rose."

Rose's expression softened. She walked to the Doctor and put a comforting hand on his shoulder as tears piled up in his big, brown eyes. "It's not your fault. Not all, anyway." she smiled. The Doctor sighed and shook his head, nearly tearing his hair out. "Yes, Rose, it is."

"No, it isn't."

"I brought her into that."

"You were _rescuing_ her. Isn't that what the Doctor does? If it's anyone's fault, it's the Master's fault. He's the one that did all that awful stuff."

The Doctor finally relented and nodded and Rose placed a swift peck on his cheek. His ears went red for a split-second but he seemed to recover, although he wore a broad, idiotic grin. "Why don't we go back out there and give it another go, yeah?" Rose suggested. The Doctor kept his grin on and sprung from the console, flinging himself excitedly at the door. Rose followed him out to the tourist centre and they ducked inside, looking around. The Doctor slapped the bell on the counter and Ianto appeared from behind a bead curtain leading behind the counter. "I didn't expect you back so soon, Doctor." Ianto said politely, with a small smile; he seemed to have forgotten everything that had just happened. Rose and the Doctor beamed back at him. "Yeah, we decided to give it another go." The Doctor replied. Rose nodded and Ianto let them pass through the corridor alone. They already knew the way, they didn't need another escort. When they stepped out of the elevator, nothing had changed. The Torchwood team was bustling about like nothing had happened, all save for Blue. She might've been somewhere else in the Hub, but the Doctor and Rose couldn't see her from where they stood. Tosh passed them and only gave the Doctor a sour frown as she passed although he smiled charmingly at her. They made their way to Jack's office, but he wasn't there. "Where do you think Blue and Jack are?" Rose wondered. The Doctor shrugged. They kept on walking around. They arrived at the vaults, where they found Jack sitting in front of a trapped Weevil. He seemed to be talking to her until the Doctor and Rose cleared their throats. "Doctor! I didn't think you'd be back so soon." he said with a wary glare. The Doctor nodded and smiled and told him what had happened in the TARDIS. Jack put his hands on his hips thoughtfully. "She told me she'd be with Ianto."

"We went through the Tourist Centre, but he didn't mention anything about her."

"Maybe you should go have some more words with him." Jack said with a small smile. The Doctor and Rose took a big breath and nodded, exiting the vaults. They crashed into Gwen on their way out. She promptly cussed the Doctor out and gave Rose a gap-toothed smile and kept going on into the vaults to talk to Jack. "What was that all about?" the Doctor wondered, looking back after her. Rose shook her head. "Everyone was there when you sorta… assaulted Blue. I saw Toshiko givin' you a look as well." she said. The Doctor frowned and ran his hand through his hair. "Well, I'll have to make it up to them all. I'll take them all to Midnight!"

"The planet you told me about, Midnight? The one made of diamonds?"

"Yes! I've always wanted to take you there, but we just haven't seemed to have the time."

"Right. Well, you can take me there with all of them, then. Yeah?"

"Yeah. Let's go find the coffee-man."

"What the hell are _you_ doin' back here, you slimy bastard?" they heard Owen's voice shout from behind them. They whirled around to face a very angry Owen Harper, and they started to sweat anxiously when they saw several surgical tools gripped in his fists. "Jack told you to not come back."

"I know what Jack told me, but I've just had words with him and he said it was okay. Don't worry, Owen, I've had a change of mind."

" _You_ can call me 'Dr. Harper', you cod."

"Listen, there's no need for name-calling here - "

"Yeah? Is that right? Well there was no need for what you did to Blue, either! Any of it! She wouldn't be so fucked up if you hadn't taken her away in your stupid blue box!"

"I was just trying to save her from the Master."

"Yeah? You should've saved her in a way that _wouldn't_ have done this shit to her!" Owen shouted, waving the tools in the air angrily. Rose and the Doctor backed away, and Rose tried to be gentle, like she was taming a wild animal. A frightened animal. She looked deep into Owen's beady eyes and saw fear, buried down. His eyes shone with fear, and she knew he feared for Blue and what would happen to her if they took her away in the TARDIS again. "We're not gonna hurt her. Not again." She said quietly. Owen's shoulders relaxed a little, and he turned away from them. They went down another hallway, where they found Blue sitting down and reading a beat-up book, like she'd read it a thousand times. She seemed so engrossed in the book that she didn't notice them come in until the Doctor cleared his throat. Her head jerked up and her eyes went wider than moons. "What the hell're you doing here?" She yelped, obviously trying to sound tough but sounding more scared than anything else.

The world was barren, and cold. Unbelievably cold. The last Daleks in existence were trapped there, and they were frozen. Systems impaired, weapons offline, even their eyestalks were frosted over. They were all dying, and fighting to survive, to carry on the great Dalek Empire. But nothing could save them from this. Well, that's what they thought. Three figures emerged from the crystallized ice-fog that made up this planet's atmosphere. A woman in what seemed to be Edwardian-style clothing and jewelry, along with the hairdo to match, a thin man in a sharp black business suit, and another man in a tan suit emerged from the ice-fog. They quietly surveyed the scene - Daleks strewn everywhere like forgotten toys, screaming, shrieking about the Dalek's superiority and hateful words. The woman looked over at the tan-clothed man and he made a little gasp of realization and whipped out an iPad which he could make notes on. She turned to the other man - the one dressed in black. He had his cheeks sucked in and a thoughtful expression on his face. "What do you think?" the woman asked. Her accent was British. He waited a few agonizing moments more before replying. "I believe there's a deal to be made." he said. His accent was also British, but there was something in his voice that made the atmosphere even colder. It was detectable in the woman's voice as well. The black-suited man picked through all the injured Daleks who lazily turned their heads to try and look at him and the two people who were following him. He searched the ruins with beady, light eyes for one Dalek in particular, which he identified and made a beeline for. He dropped to a squat with his elbows on his knees beside the fallen Dalek Commander. "Dalek Commander."

" **Ye-e-e-s…** "

"My name is the Master. I'm here with some… accomplices to make a deal with you."

" **Spe-e-ak.** "

"We're volunteering to get you out of here. And the rest of your Daleks. The living ones, of course."

" **Da-a-aleks do not need assistance!** "

The Master laughed quietly. The Dalek was weakly speaking, barely above the normal talking volume for an average human. "Most Daleks didn't. But you lot do."

" **Da-a-aleks will sur-vive!** "

"If you accept my offer they will."

Silence from the Dalek. " **Explain.** "

"Better. We can get you out of here. This ice is slowly freezing you. If I'm correct, your defense systems are offline. You can't thaw the ice on you lot, and you'll freeze to death if you stay here. I'm your only option."

The man in the tan suit took a breath. "Well, there is the option of freezing to death, but I'm thinking that's _not_ what they want?" he asked. The Master snarled up at him and he nodded, making more notes on his iPad. The Dalek's eyestalk was frozen over but it was still trying to see them. " **What a-a-a-are yo-o-o-u?** "

"I'm a Time Lord."

" **Neg-a-tive…** "

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

" **You are not a Time Lord.** "

"Yes, I am."

" **The Doc-tor is the last Time Lord in ex-ist-tence.** "

"That's what _he_ thinks, innit? No. I'm the Master, and I'm a Time Lord. Go on then, scan me. Or are your scanning systems offline as well? Oh, I suppose you'll just have to trust me, then."

" **Da-a-a-a-aleks do not have a concept of trust!** "

"Then you'll be the first. How wonderful. Do you want the Daleks to survive or don't you? If you refuse me, the blood of the last Daleks is on your hands. Or, should I say your plungers?"

The Dalek was silent again. " **Why-y-y?** "

"Pardon?"

" **The Da-a-aleks were res-pons-ible for the death of the Time Lords.** "

"Well, some of them. The Doctor was actually the one that killed the rest, you know."

" **Why help the Da-aleks?** "

"Getting curious, are you? Well, I can tell you it's not purely out of my good hearts. I want something in return."

" **Speak…** "

"I want your protection. Immunity from extermination. And… I want the Doctor."

" **Neg-a-tive.** "

"Alright, you can kill the Doctor. I won't be too stubborn. Then I only want to be able to help. Let me help you. I know where a TARDIS is. It's old, but it can be useful. With my help and some expert Daleks we can repair it and make it so you can travel through time."

The Dalek was silent again, but this time its gun stick and plunger arm were quivering excitedly. Almost the whole Dalek was trembling. " **Assist the Daleks! Find the TARDIS! Obey!** _ **Obey!**_ "

The Master grinned and then made a face. "Ooh, well that's not very nice, innit? _You're_ the ones that should be obeying."

" **Obey!** _ **Obey! OBE-E-E-E-EY!**_ "

The Master stood. "Alright, alright, no need to be pushy."

The Daleks had made it, with the help of the woman, the other man, and the Master. They piloted a ship with a channeled gravity field, so they could tow the Daleks behind them as they flew through space and to the planet with the old TARDIS. When they landed, the tan-suited man followed orders and shut off the gravity field so the Daleks could wander freely. The rest of them thawed but the Dalek Commander set straight to work, approaching the Master and the woman. " **Who is the fe-male?** " it demanded. The Master cast a sideways glance at Missy and grinned wickedly. "Oh, her? That's just Missy."

"'Just Missy'? Oh, love, I'm more than 'just Missy'. You know that better than anyone." Missy smirked. The Master laughed and turned back to the Dalek. "She and the man over there - " he nodded at Seb, who was going around to each Dalek and checking its life signs and then cataloguing them all by number. He was a comical character, innocent but loyal. A simple A.I. interface, nothing more. " - are with me. He's called Seb."

" **Who is he?** "

The Dalek was already sounding better and stronger. Just like the Master and Missy wanted. "He's just an A.I. interface for Missy. Don't worry about him."

The Dalek swerved its now-functional eyestalk to look at Seb. He was speaking to a Dalek. "Are you feeling better now?" he was saying, stylus hovering over his iPad, ready to take notes. The Dalek screamed something incomprehensible at him and he only smiled politely. "I will put that down as a 'yes'. Now, you'll be Dalek T:7, okay?"

Again, he was screamed at, but he seemed indifferent and he smiled at the next Dalek he approached. The Dalek Commander looked back at the Master and Missy. " **What is he doing?** "

Missy only waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "Oh, cataloguing your Daleks. Alphabetized from A to Z by element - composed in a 21st century-style military manner - and six Daleks to each each element, maybe five or seven. Now, there's twenty-six flights ranging from Arcadia Flight to Zygon flight, and that's six and a half squadrons. So, naturally, that's three groups, give or take a few Daleks, and that all makes up a wing. Seb has always had a fascination with the United States Air Force." Missy finished explaining. The Dalek paused for a moment, most likely storing the information in its databases, and then resumed its interrogation. " **Where is this TARDIS?** " it demanded straightaway. Missy put her hands on her lips and laughed with grandeur. It almost seemed phony and theatrical. She latched onto the Master's arm and he grinned. "So quick? Don't you want to know how your good little soldiers are doing?" he said. The Dalek was quivering with excitement. " _ **Tell me where the TARDIS is! Obey! Obey! You will obey the Daleks!**_ " it shrieked. The Master laughed and rolled his eyes, making the Dalek angrier. It spouted some nonsense about obeying the Daleks and how if he didn't comply he would be exterminated and the Master listened with intrigue. "You really think that's gonna work on me, Dalek? Without me, you've no way of locating the TARDIS."

" **We will perform internal scans on the planet's interior! You have told the Daleks all we need to know!** "

"Good luck." the Master scoffed. He turned on his heel and walked with Missy back to their ship, calling Seb over. "Oh, can't it wait? I'm nearly finished cataloguing them! I only have Xeron Flight and Zocci Flight left to go!" Seb complained. Missy glared at him and he threw his hands in the air with exasperation before clicking with his tongue and putting his iPad away. He began walking to their ship. "What is it this time? I really don't like being interrupted when I'm working!"

The Master gave the Dalek Commander a slight grin. "The Daleks don't want to cooperate. I suppose they'll have to locate the old TARDIS on their own, then."

Seb rolled his eyes and clucked again. "Oh, this again? Really, I don't know how anyone falls for that."

He reluctantly climbed into the spacecraft and they were about to take off until they heard the Dalek commander screaming at them to stop. " **Dalek scanners cannot detect the TARDIS!** "

Missy, the Master, and Seb all grinned and stopped the ship from taking off. They walked off of the landing ramp and stood in front of the Dalek confidently. "Are you saying you want our help?" the Master wondered. The Dalek was silent for what seemed like a long time. " **The Daleks require your knowledge of the location of the TARDIS in order to take the Universe and make the Daleks the only race!** "

"So, you need our help?"

" **Daleks do not need help!** "

"Alright, then. We'll be off."

" **Halt! Do not leave the Daleks! You will obey!** "

"Will we? Watch us leave, then."

" **You will be exterminated!** "

"You will never find that TARDIS."

They were at a standstill, Dalek against Time Lord. Just like old times. Missy watched the exchange with interest, and Seb watched with a mix of boredom and anticipation. "Well? Can I go back and organize your silly Daleks?" he demanded. Missy nodded at him, anticipating that the Dalek's answer would be yes, and he grinned happily, rushing off until he stopped dead, a dark frown on his face. "Which Dalek is which? Well, I left off at Dalek Y:6. Dalek Y:6?" he called into the flurry of Daleks. They dotted the landscape like miniscule flecks of bronze when seen from a distance. He disappeared into the congregation and the Dalek replied with the exact answer Missy anticipated. " **The Daleks need your help.** " the Dalek Commander finally said shamefully. The Master and Missy both grinned and set to work building the Dalek Base right above the TARDIS. "We'll need a Headquarters here, and some slaves for manual labor. You can get those for us. You're fine, but let the rest of the Daleks recover from the ice. I think you'll find some nice new additions to maybe one-hundred of them."

" **Explain!** "

"Well, thanks to the special coldness of that planet we _rescued_ you from, about one-hundred of those Daleks can fire death rays with crystallized ice in them. They'll freeze the victim inside-to-out. A slow, deliciously painful death." Missy said, licking her lips with a mad glint in her cold blue eyes. Eyes colder than the new Dalek death rays. The Dalek Commander lowered his eyestalk to peer at his gunstick. " **Am I like they are?** "

Missy shrugged. "How should I know? I can't tell unless I'm being frozen inside-to-out."

The Dalek looked as if it was about to fire on her but then lowered its gunstick and raised its eyestalk. " **Begin work on the Dalek Base! The new Dalek Empire will rise into the Un-i-verse! Daleks will conquer!** "


	4. Chapter 4

"We're not gonna hurt you!" Rose cried quickly. The Doctor walked up to me and I squirmed in my seat as the book fell out of my hands. He knelt down and tried to look me in the eyes, but I couldn't. I was so scared. He could probably see the tears that were forming in my eyes. "I'm sorry Blue. I'm so sorry." He whispered. I glanced up into his eyes for a while, and I remembered when we first met, when the drums were in my head and they were causing me incredible pain. He'd tried to help me, and I'd looked into his eyes and told him I'd seen everything. He told me what he and Rose had said back in the TARDIS. "You just...panicked?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said quietly. I looked down, thinking to myself that his panic was very close to anger, and because of that I probably wouldn't like to see him angry.

Rose took my unhurt shoulder and said, "We were thinking we'd make it up to you." I looked at her. "How?" I asked cautiously.

"We were thinking of taking you to Midnight." the Doctor said, working up a smile.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's a planet made entirely out of diamonds." Rose said.

"That sounds really pretty."

"It is!" The Doctor said, standing up. I asked, "Will... Anything bad happen?" Rose said, "Hopefully not."

" _Hopefully?"_

The Doctor said, "Well, a 99 percent chance that nothing bad will happen." I sighed and said, "If nothing bad happens this time, I'll go with you on adventures. But if something does happen, I'm staying here."

The Doctor nodded. "Deal." I got out of my chair, then looked down. "Oh! I forgot to give this back to you." I said, picking up the book. The Time Machine, by H.G Wells. "Oh right!" the Doctor said, taking the book. "Did you like it?"

"Loved it." I said with a shy smile. We walked down the hall and they let me say bye to the Torchwood team. I gave hugs and reassurance to Jack, Ianto, Tosh and Gwen, and while I was doing that, I saw Owen walk up and whisper to the Doctor, "If she comes back hurt in _any fucking way,_ I will _personally_ put a bullet in your brain."

The Doctor nodded. "Consider myself warned." he said. Then I ran up to them and gave a quick hug to Owen, who at first stiffened, then relaxed a bit and even patted me on the back. Then we walked out of the Hub into the TARDIS. The Doctor started her off towards Midnight, but then the TARDIS encountered turbulence, and we held onto anything we could to save our necks. " _What's going on here?"_ I screamed, hanging on tightly. "I don't know!" The Doctor yelled.

" _You don't fucking know?"_ I wailed.

"Now there's no need for that kind of language!" Then the TARDIS landed. "Doctor?" Rose asked tentatively. "I'm gonna check outside." he replied.

"I'll go with you." She said.

"No, Rose. I'm getting a bad feeling that we aren't on Midnight." He could hear me whimper a little, but ignored me and opened the TARDIS door, not seeing Midnight but instead a ton of Daleks in front of the TARDIS. My eyes widened. "Oh God." was all I could whisper. The Doctor cursed himself quietly and Rose's breath caught in her chest, eyes wide. " **DOC-TOR!** " the Dalek Commander screamed. The Doctor nervously glanced down at me. "I don't suppose we could do this another time?" he asked the Dalek. It quivered with hate and excitement. " **THE DOC-TOR IS APP-RE-HENDED! THE DOC-TOR CANNOT ESCAPE THE DA-A-LEKS!** "

The Doctor listened patiently to the Dalek before shoving his hands in his pockets and shrugging. "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. I'll be back but first I've got to pop off to Midnight. I've got a guest." he said with a nod toward Blue. She looked between him and Rose. "What are those things?" she asked Rose. The woman leaned down to whisper shakily in her ear. "They're - they're called Daleks. I've fou - defeated Daleks a load of times, but they scare the bloody hell out of me."

"Why?"

"They're not that - that robot, you know. They're living creatures - 'mutations' the Doctor calls them - inside of that armor. They can do all sorts of awful things with it. They - they kill because it's fun. Their only emotions are hate and anger, and most of that is directed toward the Doctor. He's their greatest enemy, and they his." Rose explained. Blue shivered. The Doctor took their arms gently and pulled them into the TARDIS, closing the door. They heard the Daleks shrieking orders from outside and Blue furrowed her brow in confusion. "But - they said we can't escape."

The Doctor laughed loudly. "Ha! Well, we've got the TARDIS and our shields are up."

He did the usual dance he liked to do in order to get the TARDIS into flight, and she took off. He set a course for Midnight and they landed. The Doctor gallivanted to the door and flung it open, and then frowned. "What?" he demanded. They were still on the planet in front of the Daleks. They were eerily silent, as if mocking him. " **THE DOC-TOR IS APP-RE-HENDED! THE DOC-TOR CANNOT ESCAPE THE DA-A-LEKS!** " the Dalek Commander yowled again. The Doctor's frown darkened. "What've you done." he demanded quietly. The Dalek commander's eyestalk swiveled around for a moment, then focused on the Doctor. " **THE DA-LEKS ARE SU-PREME! THE DOC-TOR CANNOT ESCAPE!** "

"That doesn't answer my question." The Doctor snapped. The Dalek stared at him for a long moment before replying. " **THE DA-ALEKS HAVE INTER-FERED WITH THE TARDIS' TIME AND SPACE COOR-DIN-A-TION MATRIX! THE DOC-TOR CANNOT ES-CAPE! THE DOC-TOR CANNOT ES-CAPE! THE DA-ALEKS HAVE TRI-UMPHED! THE DOC-TOR WILL BE EX-TER-MINATED! EX-TER-MINATE! EX-TER-MINATE!** "

The Doctor's face was a sickly gray and his eyes were unnaturally dull. Rose's face had lost all color. The both of them knew they were trapped, and they couldn't escape. Not only that, but they had Blue with them. She slowly moved as far as she could away from the Daleks, when the console of the TARDIS stopped her; and fear shone in her eyes. Sweat was beading on her face. Rose ran to her with quiet, comforting words as the Doctor stood darkly in front of the Daleks. "You've got me. Leave them alone. Let them go."

" **NEG-A-TIVE!** "

"What? You've _got_ me! You _don't need to hurt them!_ " the Doctor ended in a scream, beating his chest with his fists. The Daleks remained silent and still, as if mocking him. He suddenly slumped over, weak and defeated. "You don't need to hurt them…" he whimpered. The Daleks approached slowly. Two of them had shackles on the ends of the arms where their suckers should've been and they clamped the Doctor's arms inside. He looked back pitifully at the two women inside the TARDIS. " **ROSE TY-LER AND THE O-THER WILL STEP FOR-WARD!** " the Dalek Commander wailed. They hesitantly approached the door, knowing there was no other alternative, and let themselves be clamped by four other Daleks in the same way the Doctor had been taken prisoner. " **YOU WILL FOL-LOW."** the Dalek said. "Like we have any other option." Blue mumbled under her breath, so that the Dalek couldn't hear her. They went down several hallways, and were surprised at how cold it was. They could see their breath emerge as wisps, curling around the halls. The Doctor frowned again. "That's not right." he mumbled. Rose slipped her hand into his. "What's not right?" she whispered. He leaned in to talk secretly to her. "It shouldn't be this cold. This planet is generally very warm, there're no cold spots like this."

Rose frowned with him. "Don't you think this is strange, though?" she asked. He looked down at her. "What?"

"All of this. It's a sort of base for Daleks. How long d'you think this took?"

"Oh, this? It's huge! I'd say maybe seventy years."

"Seventy? Erm… Dalek?" Rose spoke up to the Dalek confining her. It swiveled its eyestalk to look at her. "How long did it take you to do all this?"

" **THE HU-MAN WILL REMAIN SIL-ENT!** " She glared at it and bit her lip. "What about the Time Lord, then?" the Doctor spoke up. The Dalek remained silent and let the Doctor speak. "How long did it take, Dalek?"

" **TWENTY-BILLION RELS.** "

"Doctor? How long is that in… you know, human years?"

The Doctor was quiet for a moment, counting in his head. "Three years." he was eerily silent, and they both knew something was wrong. "Only three years?" he asked himself. "That's wrong. That's _very_ wrong. None of this should be here."

Blue nodded. "That seems a bit too fast." Then she paled. "Oh my God."

"What?"

"That's how long I've been at Torchwood."

The Doctor seemed to realize and he nodded. "That may just be a coincidence. Tell me, Dalek." he said in his usual playful manner. "Did you have any… assistance with all this? It's impressive, I'll give you that. But then again, Daleks have always impressed me."

" **NEGATIVE.** "

"If you say so."

The Daleks kept escorting them through their base, and the Doctor looked down. He suddenly dropped to his knees and pressed his ear to the floor, being literally dragged along by the chains that were attached to the manacles around his wrists. The chains were attached to the Daleks, and they shouted orders at him to keep moving, but he ignored. "What're you gonna do, exterminate me? You know you can't take that chance!" he said, and they left him alone. He listened for a moment further, his tongue peeking out from behind his teeth. "They're drilling." he mumbled. He sprung to his feet and regarded the Daleks. "What're you drilling for? This planet has no resources that you could be getting under its surface."

" **THE DA-ALEKS DO NOT NEED PLANETARY RESOURCES.** "

"Then what's so interesting about this planet in particular?"

" **THAT IS CLASS-IF-IED IN-FOR-MATION. THE DOC-TOR IS NOT AUTH-OR-IZED TO KNOW THIS.** "

"Oh, come off it, eh?"

" **NONE OF YOU ARE AUTH-OR-IZED TO KNOW THIS."**

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "To you, at least." The Dalek turned around and seemingly glared at the Doctor.

" **SILENCE!** "

"Oh, big woop."

" **THE DOC-TOR WILL BE SI-LENT!** "

"The Doctor will not!" the Doctor scoffed with a chuckle. The Dalek swerved toward him and its gunstick was visibly twitching, but he kept pushing it. "And, anywho, you can't exterminate me. I wonder what your Dalek Commander would do if you killed the Doctor instead of him."

The Dalek was still silent. The Doctor could tell that he'd struck a nerve… if Daleks had any. " **THE DOC-TOR WILL BE SI-LENT!** "

"The Dalek will be silent, okay? I'm trying to listen." the Doctor said. The Dalek didn't say anything, and the Doctor could keep his ears open for his surroundings. "That's odd. You lot; you're different from the Daleks I've fought before, aren't you? There's a third party here, isn't there?"

More silence from all of the Daleks around them. The Doctor smiled knowingly. "Ah. I'm right, aren't I?"

Finally, the Dalek Commander spoke - rather, screamed - up. " **YOU WILL BE SILENT OR YOUR ASSOCIATES WILL BE EX-TER-MINATED!** " The Doctor looked up at the Dalek. "Fine." He muttered.

" **YOU MUST BE COM-PLET-LEY SILENT! NO MORE TALK-ING!"** The Doctor stayed silent, knowing that the Dalek was trying to trick him into saying _anything._ He glanced over at Rose, who gave him a quick smile, and Blue, who also flashed a smile, but then showed her wrists. The Doctor had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Blue's shackles were a bit too big for her bony wrists, and she could slide out of them easily. She pointed to his sonic screwdriver which was still in his pocket and he nodded. Quick as a flash she slid out of her shackles and grabbed the screwdriver and sonicked the Doctor's manacles first, then Rose's. The Doctor grabbed both of their hands and yelled, "Run!" and they sprinted off. They could hear the Dalek screaming after them, yelling, " **HALT! HALT OR BE EXTER-MIN-AT-ED! EXTER-MIN-ATE! EXTER-MIN-ATE!"** A death ray sped right by them, almost hitting them. Blue looked behind them and saw that the Dalek was gaining on them. "Hurry!" She cried, and they attempted at going faster, but couldn't.

Another beam almost hit them and they turned a corner violently, the Doctor bouncing off of the wall with his shoe and whooping loudly. Finally, the Dalek's screams quieted a bit and they could that they had lost it and decided to take a moment to breathe. They sat down, forcing oxygen down their lungs. Finally, Blue said, "I'm gonna go to the end of hall and keep watch," and before anyone could stop her, she walked down the hall.

I sat down, trying to organize my thoughts and to _not_ think about the last adventure. My heart was racing and tears were in my eyes, which I rubbed away. I could hear the Doctor and Rose muttering to each other, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I curled up a little, and tried to not to let my fear show. _Push it back. It's only fear. Get it under control, you gotta help the Doctor and Rose._ I turned around, ready to go back to the Doctor and Rose, when I saw it: a Dalek was coming down the hallway. It didn't look like it was in too much of a panic, like it should've been, what with the Doctor, Rose, and I on the loose. It seemed as though it was only on a leisurely stroll, its eyestalk lazily scanning the hallway. I held my breath. I could hear the machinery whirring, and it was one of the most awful sounds I'd ever heard. I heard a muffled voice coming from inside its armor. I couldn't identify what it said, but I could tell it was a woman. The Dalek wouldn't reply. And then it did. " **UN-DER-STOOD.** " it cried. I shivered and had to let out my breath. It came in one involuntary whoosh, and the Dalek was immediately on alert. " **THERE IS SOME-THING HERE.** " I sucked in my breath again, knowing it didn't matter: The Dalek could probably hear my heart racing. It was moving closer to me, and I couldn't move. _Don't notice me. Please don't notice me. Oh God. Ohhhhh God._ I felt like a heart attack was coming on. I slowly took a step away from the Dalek. One step. Two steps. Three steps. I started to think that I may make it. But on my fourth step: _Creak._ The Dalek's eyestalk focused on me. " **HU-MAN IS DE-TEC-TED! IT WILL BE EX-TER-MINATED! EX-TER-MINATE! EX-TER-MINATE!** " it shrieked. It swiveled toward me and began approaching, at which point I turned tail and sprinted. I ran as fast as I could down the hallway to where the Doctor and Rose were in deep conversation. They hadn't even heard the Dalek. I shouted to them to help, to run, _something_ , and just as they turned to look at me, I felt the beam hit my back. An icy feeling surged through me and a tear escaped my eye. One single tear. _This can't be it. I can't die here. This can't be it._

I could see the Doctor screaming, his mouth flung open and flecks of saliva jumping off of his lips. His face was contorted in a mixture of rage and helplessness. Rose was screaming too and she stayed behind as the Doctor sprinted to try and help me, but I couldn't hear any of it. It was like everything was in slow motion. I felt my body hit the floor, and nothing else. There was something cold on my cheek. Icy cold. I couldn't move to wipe it away. The Dalek rolled away without a fight and the Doctor took me in his arms. He was warm. Really warm. He brushed away the ice on my cheek and parted my hair from my face. "Why are you still alive?" I saw his lips moving. I couldn't believe it. _Really? That's what he's worried about?_

The Doctor pulled a stethoscope from inside his coat pocket and pressed it to my chest. My heartbeat was so slow, and my lungs felt like crap. His brow furrowed as he worked. "What?" He muttered. "No, that's impossible..."

"What?" I rasped, feeling my joints loosen up a little. "You can talk!"

"No shit."

"No need to swear, Blue." he said. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rose snort a little. "What's going on?" I whispered, and feeling a slight tickle in the back of my throat, coughed, a bit of mist flying out of my mouth. _Huh?_ The Doctor abruptly bent down and sucked in the mist, tasting it. "What the hell?" I asked, not about the mist, but about his unorthodox methods of finding out what it was. He leaned back and played with his tongue before frowning. "What was that? And why didn't the Dalek finish the job? Why didn't the Dalek target Rose and me? There is something very, _very_ wrong here. I say we should find out what it is!" the Doctor finished with a broad smile. Rose smiled and nodded, but her smile faded when she looked down at me. "Y-you okay?"

I nodded and sat up slowly. "Yeah. I'm just really cold."

The Doctor put a hand to my forehead and looked at me with confusion. "You're cold. Like a corpse. Ice cold. But I saw that death ray hit you, and you shouldn't be alive right now."

"Thanks a lot."

"No, I'm serious. You shouldn't be alive."

"Sorry to disappoint."

I got to my feet and brushed myself off and shivered. Every time I exhaled, I could see my breath like I could whenever it was really cold outside. I remembered when I was in Middle School and me and my friend used to pretend we were smoking on days like that. _Wait._ I stopped abruptly and tried to remember again. "Blue? What is it?" the Doctor demanded, taking my biceps in an iron grip and looking deep into my eyes. "I-I could remember something. Just a little bit of Middle School and… this boy. I saw him before when we were in the - you know. The - the - you-know-who said he was dead."

"Who is he?"

"I dunno. I saw him before. He's… ginger. That's all I know. I couldn't remember his face."

"So what's so special about him?"

"Every time I remember him I get this… feeling. I don't know what feeling but it's a weird one."

"Love? A childhood fancy, perhaps?"

"How the hell should I know! We should go. That Dalek might've gone and informed the Dalek Commander that we were here."

The Doctor had a faraway look on his face. "The Dalek Commander… or the next highest authority."

Rose looked at him with curiosity. "What?" she wondered. The Doctor turned to us two, a wild look in his eyes. "I talked about a third party earlier. I think there's someone that sped up the Dalek's industrialization. I think that's how they were able to build this in only three years." he explained. We nodded and they helped me walk weakly down the corridors. Suddenly, I realized they weren't as cold as they were before. "Doctor?" I said. We kept walking, but he mumbled so I assumed he was listening. "Did it get warmer? The corridors aren't as cold as they were before." I asked. The Doctor swiveled his head to look at me with a frown. "No. It's still a bit nippy. I think it's just because you're so cold."

"Yeah, why is that? Doctor?" Rose inquired. He focused his eyes on the ground in front of us and kept helping me along. I suddenly had a flashback. Helping the Doctor and Rose through the corridors as the Master pursued us. Collapsing on the ground. The Master's hands wrapping around my ankles. A fistful of hair dragging me along the ground, screaming. The TARDIS couple looking behind and leaving me to the Master's mercy. I snapped to reality, trembling violently. The Doctor and Rose were trying to get through to me, trying to ask me what was wrong. "Nothing!" I was a bit too quick to answer. I took a deep breath and tried for my best reassuring smile. "Nothing's wrong."

Rose looked like she would've liked to press further, but the Doctor cut her off. "Okay. If you've got anything to tell us, you know you can."

"Yeah. I know." I sighed.


	5. Chapter 5

" **THE DOC-TOR AND HIS ASS-OC-IATES HAVE BEEN LOCATED!** " the Dalek shouted, rolling up to the Dalek commander. It swerved its eyestalk to survey the Dalek instead of the mines below. " **WHERE ARE THEY?** "

" **CORRIDOR NUM-BER THREE-SIX-SEV-EN.** "

The Dalek Commander turned to another Dalek and screamed, " **LO-CATE THE DOC-TOR AND SEND A RETRIEVAL TEAM TO CAP-TURE THEM! THE DOC-TOR WILL NOT ESCAPE THE DA-ALEKS!** "

" **I OBEY!** " the second Dalek said, turning and rushing away. The Dalek Commander turned back to the reporting Dalek. " **HAVE YOU INFORMED OUR ASS-OC-IATES?** "

" **NEGATIVE.** "

" **DO NOT TAKE SUCH ACTION. THE DOC-TOR WILL BE BROUGHT TO THE DA-ALEKS. HE WILL FACE EX-TER-MINATION KNEELING IN FRONT OF THE DA-ALEKS! THE DA-ALEKS WILL TRI-UMPH AGANST THE DOC-TOR! THE DA-ALEKS ARE THE MAS-TER RACE! DA-ALEKS ARE SU-PREME!** "

They rounded another corridor. Blue was still icy to the touch, but it didn't seem as though she was suffering. She coughed, but this time, flecks of ice shot from her mouth. The Doctor stopped and Blue stumbled, nearly taking Rose with her to the floor, but the woman caught her and held her up, barely standing. The Doctor opened her mouth and peered inside, his face ashen and his eyes full of dread. "Oh, no." he whispered, barely audible. Blue looked at him weakly, but she fell unconscious before she could ask what was wrong. She went completely limp in Rose's arms which almost brought the both of them down, but Rose managed to stay standing. "Doctor, what's wrong?" she grunted. The Doctor glanced up at her. "There's frost."

"What?"

"In her mouth. She's freezing. From the inside-out. Slowly."

"What can we do?"

"We might be able to thaw her out if we get her somewhere warm."

Rose looked around helplessly. "There's nowhere warm here!" she cried. The Doctor ran his hands through his hair in a frenzied manner but came up with nothing. "I-I dunno!" he finally shouted. They heard Daleks approaching from the corridor behind them and the Doctor scooped Blue into his arms, beginning to walk as fast as he could. Rose looked over her shoulder at the Daleks and realized that running was helpless. They wouldn't be able to get away at this pace. "Come on, Rose!" The Doctor yelled.

"We won't be a able to outrun them!" She cried.

"No harm in trying!" The Doctor said. She sighed knowingly and hurried down the hallway as best she could. They heard the Daleks screaming for them to halt and all the 'exterminate, exterminate, exterminate' nonsense but they kept going, clinging to a shred of hope that they could get away. Suddenly, Blue's body was heavy. Too heavy, and much heavier than it used to be. The Doctor couldn't carry her anymore and her let her slip to the floor. Without warning, Blue was dragged - still unconscious - toward a group of Daleks. "What's happening?" Rose asked the Doctor frantically. He studied the Daleks and came up with a hypothesis. "They've got a concentrated gravity field, but the Daleks don't have that kind of technology. It's too early in their time stream." he said darkly. "They don't have concentrated gravity fields until the Time War…"

Rose was frozen in place. She couldn't go and save Blue, and the only thing she could do was to stay with the Doctor. Her heart was racing, and she didn't know what to do. The Doctor grabbed her hand and looked at her with his big puppy-dog eyes. Eyes that were so sad. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But we can get away."

"And leave her? Again, Doctor?"

"It's the only thing we can do."

"No, it's not."

"What?"

Rose gripped the Doctor's hand tighter and began to walk toward the Daleks. He resisted and tried to pull her back, but she was strong when she was determined, and they approached slowly. "Take all three of us." Rose said to the Daleks. They stared at her for a long time before replying. " **YOU WILL FOL-LOW.** " they finally demanded. Rose smiled at the Doctor and they stepped into the center of the troop of Daleks, being escorted down the hallways. "So… what d'you plan to do with us, anyway?" Rose wondered, poking her tongue between her teeth. " **THE DOC-TOR WILL BE KEPT IN THE MAX-IM-UM SECURITY PRISON AND THE HU-MANS WILL WORK IN THE MINES FOR THE DA-ALEKS.** " one of them replied. The Doctor shook his head angrily. "No." he said loudly. " **THE DOC-TOR WILL FOLLOW OR-DERS OR THEY WILL DIE!** "

"Rose stays with me. So does Blue."

" **NEG-A-TIVE.** "

"Positive if you want our cooperation."

" **THE DA-ALEKS DO NOT NEED YOUR COOPERATION. THE DOC-TOR AND THE HU-MANS WILL O-BEY THE DA-ALEKS OR THEY WILL DIE!** "

"Yeah, you _say_ that, but when have you actually ever acted on that?"

" **SILENCE! THE DOC-TOR WILL BE SILENT!** "

The Doctor muttered to himself but did as they said. They moved down more hallways. The Doctor thought to himself that it almost seemed like a labyrinth. Then, a ton of sparks started to fly from one of the Daleks, which promptly started screaming. " **REBEL ALERT! REBEL ALERT!** " Then, another one started to spark as well and scream the same thing. Soon enough, all of the Daleks around them were shooting sparks and whirling around in circles, screaming about rebels and which systems were impaired and such. Suddenly, every one of them went quiet. They stopped moving. Blue was released from the gravity field and she looked pale and lifeless as a small group of people stepped forward, grinning. The man at their head was holding a huge gun and was dressed in rags, much like the rest of them. "C'mon. That was just a tranq. They'll be awake soon. Let's go." he said.

The Doctor and Rose had no choice but to follow him. They stepped carefully around the Daleks, knowing full well that the Daleks could use their DNA to regenerate and come back to life. That was demonstrated by Rose when she'd first met the Daleks. Just one touch and they'd all be dead. They pulled Blue's body along with them until the man scooped her into his able arms and trotted along the corridor with his gun in a holster on his back. "Erm… where're we going, exactly?" the Doctor wondered. No one replied, but continued to run. The Doctor muttered something about humans under his breath and held Rose's hand tighter. He didn't want to let go. Soon enough, they'd wound around several corners and wiggled through a fair share of ventilation shafts until they arrived at some sort of underground base that was neither as organized or as well-made as the Dalek base. This was how the Doctor knew that they were rebelling against the Daleks. The man set Blue down on a sort of cot and turned back to the Doctor and Rose as a young man scurried over, carrying a tray heavy with glasses of water. The man took one, and everyone else in the small posse, and the tray-man gave both the Doctor and Rose water as well. Rose mumbled thanks and flashed a smile as she took a sip. "I'm Rip." the leader said, scratching the back of his neck with long, unkempt nails. "Rose Tyler."

"The Doctor! Say, Rip, what exactly are you lot doing here?"

The Doctor was excited and upbeat, not to Rip's liking. "Why the hell are you so… happy about this? Shit's going down, Doctor, and it's going down with the Daleks."

"Well, yes, I know _that_. But what are you all doing here?"

"We were taken prisoner by the Daleks from our home planet. They forced us to work in the mines, but we broke out and dug down. We're good at digging. We've kept recruiting since then, but there's only a few of the original members left."

"There's not much hope for you lot, you know."

"Yeah, we know. But 'not much' is better than none."

"Right. What's that gun?"

"Just a Dalek tranq. It was easy to build, according to our weapons expert. I don't make them, I just fire them."

The Doctor looked around with interest. "Can I meet this… weapons expert?" he wondered. Rip hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. There's two of them. Yuma and Ty. They had kids on their home planet before the Daleks came." he explained as he walked Rose and the Doctor over. Two people were hunched over a stone desk that was carved into the wall, drawing designs for weapons. A man and a woman. Rip tapped them on the shoulders and they turned to glare at the Doctor and Rose. "Can we help you?" the woman asked. "Yeah. This is the Doctor and Rose. They're… _them_."

The woman's eyes widened and she leaped to her feet along with her husband, vigorously shaking their hands. Rose blushed and smiled up at the Doctor with confusion. "What's happening?" she asked quietly. Rip heard her and puffed out his chest. "We've heard a lot about you two. Well, only about the Doctor, but you're together?"

They both laughed fakely. "No, what? No, we're not… a couple." the Doctor said. Rose agreed with him, but Rip obviously wasn't fooled, though he didn't take it any further. "So, how did you hear about me? I'm intrigued."

"You're Dalek Enemy No.1. How could we _not_ hear about you? And there were fairy tales about you on our home planet. Colonized Saturn."

"Saturn Three, isn't it? Yeah, I know Saturn 3. Good planet, I saved it from a potential Adipose breeding catastrophe once."

"I remember that."

"So, what are you working on?"

The woman picked up a small portfolio crammed with designs. "Too many to tell. What d'you think?"

He looked over several weapons designs. "Oh, these are quite good. _Brilliant!_ Oh, hold on a minute! One mistake right here. Got a pencil?" The couple looked at each other and the woman laughed a bit. "We're weapons designers. We always have pencils." She said and handed the Doctor a pencil. The Doctor quickly erased something and rewrote something. "There! Good as new! A neuron destabilizer would've been rubbish. It's much better with the neuron _collapser_." He handed the portfolio back to them and they looked over at it and smiled. "Thanks!" The woman said, a smile on her face. The Doctor returned the smile, and then frowned playfully. "Alright, which is which?"

The woman gestured to herself first, and then her husband. "I'm Yuma and this is my husband Ty. He can't speak. The-the Daleks removed his tongue."

"Why would they do that?"

"Experimentation." Yuma's voice betrayed her understandable disgust. "Don't worry." Rose said with a warm smile. "We're gonna get them, alright?"

"I trust you. So does Ty." Yuma said. Rip gave her a hug and then lead the Doctor and Rose away from the two. They approached the man that had given them the water earlier, and he turned to look and smile at them. "Hello!" he said cheerily. Rip smiled. "This is Janeth. Our tea-boy. Well, he would be our tea-boy if we had tea, but we only have water. I guess that makes him our water-boy."

The Doctor glanced at Rose and Blue, who was still unconscious and a miniscule team of medics were working on her. "Tea-boy? Isn't that what Owen calls Ianto? In Torchwood, I mean." Rose said to the Doctor. He nodded. "Well, I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose."

"Pleased to meet you." Janeth said. "But I've got some paperwork to do."

Rip nodded and they went over to where Blue lay, with three people gathered around her. "These are the people that are better than others at putting stitches in you." Rip introduced from the left to the right: "Tygha, Buzi, and Opiah."

"Those are interesting names, innit?"

"Yeah. _Not_ from Saturn 3. They're from Venus Mark Twenty."

"Venus Mark Twenty? I don't think I've been there yet! Is it new?"

The woman called Tygha replied, "Yeah. This is the first year people started living on it."

"So how'd you get in a mix with the Daleks?"

"Well, me and these two were out on a space salvage mission when our ship was attacked and we were taken hostage."

The Doctor looked around the room and he couldn't help but to feel his hearts sink. All these people… they'd had lives before the Daleks swooned in and took that all away. They were all dressed in rags and they were dirty, smelly, and sweaty. The Doctor and Rose weren't bothered that much, though. They had to sympathize with these people and help them. "That's all we are. Small, but we're getting more people to join. Understandably, some people don't _want_ to join. The Daleks wouldn't just exterminate us if they found out. They'd torture us. They'd experiment on us. Soon enough, we wouldn't be us anymore."

"What would you be?" Rose asked quietly.

"We dunno. All we know is that we wouldn't be like... _this."_ she said plainly. Finally, Rose whispered, "Is Blue gonna be okay?" Tygha looked at them. "Who is she? Is she your kid or something?" She glanced between Rose and the Doctor. They looked at each other and laughed. "No, no. Not at all!" They cried. "She's more... like a little sister." Rose decided. Tygha sighed and rubbed her hands together a little. "I hate to say it, but a lot of our people have died because of this technology. We've tried to find a cure, but... haven't had any luck." Rose's eyes widened. "You'll try, right?" She whispered.

"Of course! But, you know we've never seen this before. I mean, Rip's dealt with Daleks before, but he's never seen this."

"What d'you mean?"

"Well… the victims… they're freezing inside-to-out. We've done scans on everyone that got hit by a death ray and survived. X-rays, internal viewing drones and everything. Their insides are frosted over… like the grass in the morning on a cold night."

The Doctor glanced from Blue back to Tygha. "What do they think?" he asked with a nod at Buzi and Opiah. Tygha glanced over her shoulder at them before replying. "They're just as stunned as I am. We've got our research team working on it, but on the Internet for the entire Universe they've found nothing."

"Could I meet this research team?"

"Yeah. Buzi will take you over there." Tygha said. Buzi stepped forward and lead the Doctor away so Tygha and Opiah could continue their work on Blue. The two were lead through the rebel camp and to a tiny desk with one small computer and littered with papers and books. "They've got books at a Dalek camp?" the Doctor wondered as Buzi thanked them and rushed back to Blue's side. The one girl sitting at the desk whirled around, a shocked expression on her face. She wore pink and black glasses, her hair was wavy, layered and black in the shadows and reached about down to her shoulders. "Woah! Sorry, you took me by surprise!" she cried. The Doctor apologized and leaned in to look over her shoulder at all the books. "Like I said. Books?"

"Well, we were able to sneak into the garbage and steal these. This is what they do with the stuff we get captured with. The only things we're allowed to keep is our clothing. And then we're forced to work in the mines. _Everyone_. If you don't work, you get exterminated."

"Children and elders, too?"

"Yeah. I've seen… kids get killed. For either fun or just because they can't work as hard as the Daleks tell them to work."

"So. What're you researching at the moment?"

"Well, we've had several people shot by Daleks and survive. And then later we find that they're getting frosted over. So I helped Ty and Yuma make those medical machines to see what was going on. Right now, I'm trying to find out if that's common for Daleks. As far as I've gotten, it's not."

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair and shoved on his spectacles, peering at the computer screen. "Oh, this technology is rubbish."

"Hey! It's the best we could do, given the circumstances!"

"D'you mind if I give it a little upgrade?" the Doctor wondered, pulling out his screwdriver. The girl got out of her chair and nodded, and then watched the Doctor as he worked on the computer. "I'm K.D., by the way."

"Hallo, K.D.! I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose."

"A Doctor?"

"Well, I _say_ Doctor, but - "

"Like a real doctor?"

"Sort of. I'm not really _that_ kind of Doctor, but I've got some experience with Daleks."

"Oh my gosh! Rip!" K.D. called over to the leader. He was talking to someone - a woman - and the two of them walked over. "What's up?" the woman he was talking to said. "This is _the_ Doctor!" K.D. shouted. The woman rolled her eyes. "Duh. Dalek Enemy No.1 right there."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"You didn't ask."

Rip sauntered away and Rose tapped the woman on the shoulder. "'Scuse me, I'm Rose."

"Yeah, the Doctor's boo. I know."

"Wha'?"

"You two are lovebirds. I know who Rose Tyler is."

"Right, but who are you? And we're not lovebirds."

"Ha. Sure. I'm Mello."

"Mello? That's a fun name, then."

"Yeah. I'm from New Earth."

"Oh? The Doctor and I've been to New Earth!"

"Good for the Doctor and you. It's destroyed now. A Dalek planet-splitter. They took the refugees prisoner. I used to be a four-star general for the New United States Air Force."

Rose looked impressed. "You hear that, Doctor?" she asked. The Doctor frowned. "Yes, I heard." he grumbled. Mello eyed him. "What the hell's his problem?" she demanded. Rose shrugged. "He just doesn't like soldiers."

"Yeah? Well we're all in the same boat now, so he should get used to it."

The Doctor whooped and stood abruptly, gesturing at the updated computer with grandeur. " _Molto bene!_ There you are! All better, try it out for size!" K.D walked over to the computer. "Dang. You were right. That looks _loads_ better." She said, a grin on her face. "Thanks!"

The Doctor nodded and smiled at her enthusiasm. "Your welcome." He said. They left the desk and moved onto another area of the base camp. "This is… humans, huh?" Rose chuckled. The Doctor held her hand and chuckled along with her. Just then, Mello sprinted up to them and leaned against the wall. She caught her breath and brushed her fiery red hair out of her eyes. "We've got a Dalek alert. They're trying to locate the base. Again. You wanna help out?"

The Doctor and Rose exchanged a look, but before they could reply she wrapped her hands around their wrists and dragged them to where Yuma and Ty were arming people with weapons. Ty shoved a gun and a small smile at Rose and she smiled back, but the Doctor's face was stony. Ty frowned and pushed the gun into his arms again, but the Doctor resisted. "No." he said. Ty nudged him with the butt of the gun again. "I don't like guns."

"Well you're gonna have to. We're up against fucking _Daleks_. Just take the damn gun, Doctor." Mello cried.

Ty gently nudged again, but the Doctor kept his arms at his sides and didn't accept. "I'll use my screwdriver." he said darkly. Mello laughed out loud. "What's a screwdriver gonna do against Daleks?" she demanded sharply. The Doctor kept refusing the gun and Ty gave up, instead passing the gun to K.D. who stood behind him. "Is… everyone going on this little outing?" the Doctor wondered. Mello shook her head. "Not Janeth. Janeth does the paperwork and takes care of things while we're gone."

"What if Daleks get in here while you're away?"

"Oh, don't worry. Janeth knows his way around a gun." Mello chuckled. Once everyone but the Doctor was armed, they shimmied through small tunnels and ventilation shafts again. "Erm, what exactly are we doing?" the Doctor called up to Mello. She was in front of him. "We're on a recruiting mission. We get into the mines by hiding our weapons and pretending to be slaves, and then we get people to join our cause. Also a reconnaissance mission and to get the Daleks away from HQ." she explained. The Doctor struggled to look down at Rose and managed a shrug. "You're all very… military, then?" he asked up at Mello. She let out a halfhearted chuckle. "Yeah. Most of us come from military backgrounds. I guess you'll have to learn to like soldiers, Doctor. Now shut up."

They crawled along in silence, struggling to fit through the tight tunnels that were carved along to the rebel's base. They finally were able to stretch out a bit as they entered some cold ventilation shafts and crawled along. They made hollow thumps and bumps, but no one seemed to be concerned. "Erm, sorry, but won't the Daleks hear all this racket we're making?"

"Yeah. They'll send in some drones to either fix the problem or kill the people but our weapons manage to destroy them." Mello said. Her voice bounced off of the walls. After a bit more of this, they could hear the noises of the Daleks moving around above them. " **HU-MANS DE-TEC-TED! SEEK! LO-CATE! EX-TER-MINATE!** " they cried. The Doctor could hear Mello snicker and everyone paid the Daleks no attention and kept on crawling to the mines.


	6. Chapter 6

I woke because of the cold. It felt like I was sleeping in the middle of a blizzard in the middle of winter in the middle of the night. I crossed my arms over my chest in a desperate attempt to warm myself up and found that my insides hurt like hell. I doubled and a hot rag was slapped onto my forehead. Mist sizzled off of my forehead, like what happens when you pour hot water over ice. It felt good, so I laid back and eyed the man that had put the rag on my forehead. He was grimy and dressed in rags but he was smiling and holding what looked like a kettle, steaming from the spout. "Wha-what's going on?" I whispered, the mist curling out of my mouth. The man gently patted me on the shoulder. "I'm Janeth. I'm part of a... Rebel group. Against the Daleks," he said plainly. "Where's the Doctor? Rose?" I coughed, and even more mist flew from my mouth. He patted my forehead with the hot rag and shushed me. "Don't talk. We're trying to get you better." I took another breath. "Where-?" I croaked, and even more mist flew from my mouth. "They're on a mission. Now don't talk." He said a bit firmer. I sighed a little and rolled my eyes a bit, then closed them. However, I couldn't sleep. It was too cold. Way too cold. "Cold." I rasped. He came back over to me and froze - I know, not the best metaphor for the situation. I looked down at myself and coughed with surprise, scattering flecks of ice all about. My skin had a delicate layer of frost racing up it. I looked like I was wrapped in lace from the tips of my fingers to my shoulders and growing up my neck. "What the hell?" I choked. Janeth reached down and touched the ice gently before recoiling. "It's the last stage." he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "What?"

"So far, once ice starts forming on your skin… you're gonna die soon."

"Get an-another r-rag and-d put s-some hot-t water on-n m-me." I shivered violently as I felt the frost forming on my face. He looked at me helplessly and I reached up to grab his grubby shirt. "G-go g-get me s-some h-hot wat-t-ter!" I shouted as loudly as I could. He broke away from me and shook his head. "That won't help. Ice is forming over you because you're freezing inside-to-out!"

"I don't fucking care _why_. H-help me!"

"I don't know what to do!"

"P-please. I-I'm s-so cold. Please, I need the h-hot water." I whispered. Tears started to slide down my face, which I tried to stop. "I-I d-don't - I don't want to d-die…" I whispered finally, feeling the icy tears saturate the frost. As I said this, my vision tunneled. I started to flail out of panic. _This can't be it. I can't die here. No, please… please… I don't want to die._

And then?

Nothing.

The troop arrived at the mines and they hid their weapons under their clothing, pretending to work. While they did that and avoided attention from the Daleks, they spread the word about the rebellion. Several people nearly volunteered but just hearing a Dalek's voice from nearby scared all of their fighting spirit out of them. As their mission came to an end, they hadn't gotten any more volunteers. It'd seemed as though the Daleks had been purposefully scaring the mine workers more than usual to stop them from wanting to rebel. It had worked. The rebels shimmied back into the ventilation systems and pulled their weapons back out to be prepared. Suddenly, the whole line stopped. They were at a stand-still. "What's happened? Is everything okay?" the Doctor called up to Mello. She struggled to look back down at him. "I dunno." she turned back around. "Hey! Assbutts! What's going on up there!"

They barely heard Rip say, "Daleks ahead!" from the front of the procession. The Doctor's hearts dropped and Rose felt as though her stomach was forcing its way up her throat. "Doctor? We'll be okay, right? Blue's okay?" she whimpered. The Doctor took a deep breath. "Yeah, we'll be okay. Blue's fine."

"Are you lying?"

"I'm the Doctor, aren't I? Of course I'm lying."

"Thanks."

"It's alright, Rose."

"That's a lie?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Good. Right, let's do this."

The team started moving again but the dread was tangible as they exited the ventilation systems. They all crawled up into the center of a circle. Around them were Daleks, excitedly aiming their gunsticks. " **PRISONERS I-DENT-I-FIED AS HU-MANS.** "

The Doctor sighed. They hadn't seen him. " **PRISONERS ARE THE REBEL TASKFORCE. YOU WILL BE EX-TER-MINATED! EX-TER-MINATE! EX-TER-** "

"Hold on a minute!" the Doctor said, his hands in his pockets. He sauntered through the people to the Dalek that was speaking. " **THE DOC-TOR! IT IS THE DOC-TOR! EX-TER-MINATE!** " The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes. "'Exterminate' this, 'exterminate' that - it's getting a bit old, you know."

" **CEASE TAL-KING! THE DOC-TOR WILL REMAIN SI-LENT!** "

"Will he, then? And, erm, why exactly would I do that?"

" **THEY WILL BE EX-TER-MINATED!** "

"Oh, really? Well, go ahead. I won't stop you. I barely even know these people. Go ahead, then. Exterminate them. They're _rebels_. Rebelling against the great Dalek Empire!"

The Dalek was silent, doubtful. The Doctor smiled, touching the tip of his tongue to the roof of his mouth. "Good." he said softly, with a nod. "Now. I want to know who helped you build all this in only three years."

" **DA-ALEKS DO NOT RE-QUIRE ASS-IS-TANCE! DA-ALEKS ARE SU-PREME!** "

"Yeah, you _say_ that, but when has that ever been _proven_? As far as I can tell, _Time Lords_ are the supreme beings. After all, the last one is always beating you to the chase, hm?"

" **THIS PROVES NOTHING. DA-ALEKS WILL SUR-VIVE! DA-ALEKS ARE SU-PREME!** "

"All this blathering about Daleks is turning my brain to soup! Now, be a doll and tell me who helped you build this."

" **NO ONE.** "

"And, you're sure?"

" **YES.** "

"You're lying."

" **NEG-A-TIVE.** "

"Why would you tell me the truth?"

He'd caught the Dalek red-handed - or, rather, red _suckered_. It stumbled over its own words, and the Doctor nodded again. " _That's_ it! Who was it, then?"

" **THE DA-ALEKS WILL NOT REVEAL IN-FOR-MATION TO THE DOC-TOR! YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE DA-ALEKS! YOU WILL BE EX-TER-MINATED!** "

"Well, you'll tell me someday. You always do. You always end up telling the 'Doc-tor' your master plan and the 'Doc-tor' always ends up foiling your plan to exterminate the Universe."

" **NEG-A-TIVE.** "

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh, you will." he assured them. The Daleks simply looked at him. He could tell that they were getting angrier than they already were, which was a considerable amount of anger as it was. The Doctor strolled around the circle with his hands behind his back innocently. " **RE-LEASE YOUR WEAPONS!** " the Daleks finally said. Everyone seemed to look at the Doctor for direction, and he gave them a small nod. They all released their weapons and let them drop to the floor. " **DOC-TOR.** "

"What?"

" **RE-LEASE YOUR WEAPONS!** "

"Oh, come off it. You know me! I'm the Doctor, not the Soldier! I don't carry weapons."

" **DATABASES SHOW YOU HAVE ONE WEAPON WHICH YOU ARE NEVER WITHOUT. IT HAS CAUSED THE DOWNFALL OF THE DA-ALEK EMPIRE MANY TIMES.** "

"I've no idea what you're talking about."

" **YOUR SON-IC PROBE.** "

"Oh! _Oh!_ Oh, that old girl? She's not a weapon. She's a screwdriver."

" **YOU WILL GIVE IT TO THE DA-ALEKS.** "

"Erm… no, I won't."

" **NEG-A-TIVE.** "

"No, I _won't._ It's _my_ screwdriver. Get your own."

" **THE DOC-TOR WILL COOP-ER-ATE!** "

"No, the Doctor won't."

" **IF THE DOC-TOR DOES NOT COOP-ER-ATE WITH THE DA-ALEKS, HIS ASSOCIATES WILL BE EX-TER-MINATED!** "

"Like I said before. Go ahead." the Doctor said, winking at Rose. Before anyone could react, the Dalek turned and shot Yuma with a death ray, straight in her chest. She screamed and flung her hands in the air as her skin became luminescent and then she slumped to the ground. She was dead. The Doctor stared at her corpse with horror and then turned back to the Dalek, throwing his hands into the air as a signal to stop. "Alright! Stop! Stop! Don't kill them!"

" **THIS IS WHAT THE DOC-TOR IN-STRUC-TED.** "

"I _know_ what I said, but I didn't think you'd actually do it!"

" **WE O-BEY.** " the Dalek said, mockingly. The Doctor fell silent, his eyes locked on Yuma's body. Everyone else in the group stared at him with either horror or disbelief. " **THE DOC-TOR WILL COOP-ER-ATE WITH THE DA-ALEKS.** "

He had no choice. He reluctantly reached into his coat and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, dropping it to the floor on the pile of weapons the rebels had set down.

I was in a chair. _Wait, what?_ In an office. A plaque on the desk in front of me read 'Seb'. It looked just like every other desk, with a jar of pens and pencils, some assorted paperwork, and even a computer. There was a lamp and a filing cabinet on the back wall, and a bunch of blue curtains to my right. The curtains reached from the ceiling to the floor. On the wall in front of me - behind the desk - was one single painting. It was a circle, with another circle branching off from it. There was a door to the left, but I didn't feel like getting out of the chair to check it out. I was cold. Still. Soon, the door opened and a man slipped inside the room. He wore a tan suit, with a little darker tan tie, and had short brown hair. His smile looked welcoming and genuine enough. "Hello!" he said jovially. He sat in the chair across the desk from me. "Has anyone offered you coffee? No?" he rolled over to the door and cracked it open a bit. "Coffee, please! The good kind; we've got a new one!"

He rolled back over to the desk and put his hands on it, fingers folded together. "Where am I?" I demanded. Seb - I assumed that was his name - looked down at his hands and took a breath. "You know, this is the hardest part."

"The hardest part of what?"

"You have our sincere condolences."

"For _what_?"

"So, that last thing that happened to you… that actually happened. Erm, now on to business."

" _Where. The fuck. Am I."_

"Okay, well, you know the place people think they go when they die?"

"What?"

"It takes a bit to… you know, register."

I stared at him in shocked silence and felt hot, wet tears welling in my eyes. He nodded and looked down again. "Yep."

As I started crying, he pulled a file off of one of the stacks of papers on his desk and nonchalantly flipped through it. "Your name's Blue?" he asked. I looked up. His image was blurred from all the tears. "Y-Yes." I managed to stutter.

"And… ooh, this is a unique death. You froze to death from the inside-out?"

"H-How do you know that?"

"I've got your file here."

I stopped crying and shot up to look at the file. "What does that have in it?" I demanded. He seemed like I'd taken him by surprise and kept flipping through the pages. "Well, not much that you'd want to know. Just your life and death."

" _Give it to me!_ " I shouted, snapping my arm out and snatching the file from his hands. He nearly fell out of his chair in his rush to get it back from me and nearly leapt over his desk. When he'd finally wrestled it from my hands I was crying again. I didn't even catch one word. _Not one._ He straightened out his suit before glaring at me and returning to his seat. I was still standing, my face in my hands and sobs racking my body. After a moment, his expression softened and he reached up to pat me on the hand. "Yes, I know how hard it is. Don't worry, it's alright."

"Where am I?" my voice was a whisper and Seb had to lean in to hear what I was saying. "Oh, that. Welcome to the Nethersphere! It's got a lot of names - the afterlife, the Promised Land, all that rubbish - but I personally like the Nethersphere."

"What?"

"It's where you go when you… well, you know."

He got up from his seat after securing my file in one of his desk drawers and walked to the window, gently pulling me along with him. "Here." he said, whipping open the curtains. I felt him hand me a tissue and wiped the tears away from my eyes before I looked out the window and promptly started bawling again. _You're such a baby, Blue._

I tried to stop. I couldn't. Seb only stood there silently and occasionally patted me on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort me. I shivered. "Why i-is it s-s-so cold?"

"Oh, that. Well, let's see how to explain this… when you die, you're still conscious, it's just that you're dead. So, you feel whatever happens to your body while you're dead. For instance - fairly urgent question - do you know if you're being cremated?" Seb wondered, whipping out an iPad. I shook my head and kept sobbing into my hands. Outside the window was a huge city. And I mean _huge_. Bigger than London, or New York. Probably bigger than every capital city in the world combined. And there was something strange about it… it didn't seem to have a skyline. It looked to me like it just curved up and the whole thing was a big globe, and we were in the middle of it. "I'll put you down as a 'yes', then. Just to make sure."

He looked out the window along with me and smiled to himself. "That's my flat, over there." he said, pointing to one of the countless buildings. When he saw that wasn't helping, he instantly put on a melancholy face and nodded somberly. "Right. Come along, then."

He lead me to a door. The door had windows with the same design as the painting in Seb's office - the one large circle and the smaller circle branching off of it - and it smoothly slid open. We walked out onto a balcony where we could see the city stretching out below, in front, and above us. "Is this s-s-some s-sort of glo-o-obe?" I stuttered, not being able to speak normally what with the sobs choking me up. Seb smiled at me. "Yep! Well, it's a _sphere_ , but there isn't really a difference. Unless, of course, there is, in which case I would be wrong."

"S-s-so I'm d-dead?"

"To put it bluntly, yes. But don't think of it as death. Think of it as… more life."

"What?"

"Think of it like babies. Imagine babies had little telephones inside the womb and they could call their little baby friends with them. They think life is only nine months long. Out they pop, and they think it's all over, but it's really just more life, and they never talk to the other babies ever again. Sort of like that."

"What?"

"Oh, that is my favorite metaphor, but it rarely gets the job done."

I looked away from him and back out at the quite overwhelming city. "Erm, another… important question. Have you ever killed anyone?" Seb wondered, rocking on the balls of his feet once or twice. I looked at him. "What?"

"Well, it is an urgent question. We have down here that you've travelled with the Doctor _and_ worked for Torchwood. I only know of one other person who's ever done that, and we can't manage to get him down here." Seb chuckled.

 _Jack._

"D-do you mean people as in _people_ , or people as in _aliens and people_?"

"Erm… yes."

"What?"

"No? Alright."

Suddenly I saw images flashing in front of my eyes. Getting tossed around the TARDIS like a ragdoll. The Master's cruel, horrible face looming above me. Puella getting beaten to a bloody mess. The Doctor in his injured state. The Master beating Rose. I screamed, and Seb seemed to panic, flailing his hands about and shushing me. "Sorry, sorry, please keep it down!" he begged.

I snapped back to reality and looked at him with wide, scared eyes. He nodded and realized what had happened. "Right. Yes, flashbacks will be quite common at this stage. It seems like you've got some nasty memories in that noggin of yours, yeah?"

I swallowed bile and he pulled something up on his iPad before handing it to me. I was shaking like hell and could barely read the words flashing in red on the screen. "Pesky emotions. I never really liked them. You could get rid of all that… fear. All you need to do is press that button right there and they'll all be gone. You won't have to worry about them anymore. I'll leave you alone with your decision." Seb said. He patted my back one more time and turned on his heel to stride off of the balcony and back into his office, leaving me to stare down at the words. There was only one word I could make out: "DELETE". _Delete what? My emotions. Oh…_

My finger hovered above the button that I had to press as I debated with myself more. _No emotions sounds like a good deal._

 _No, emotions are what make you stronger._

 _Yeah, but I won't have to feel fear anymore._

 _Yeah, but you won't feel anything else, either._

 _That's better than this._

 _This is better than nothing._

Now, the button just felt like a burden. I was anxious about my decision. I looked around the balcony and sat down in one of the plush chairs that sat around a nice table. I set the iPad on the table and took a deep breath, looking around at the city. Meanwhile, the button kept staring at me, flashing on and on… "DELETE… DELETE...DELETE…" Suddenly, even more images flashed before my eyes: Me and the Doctor talking in the library in the TARDIS, Rose comforting me when I first met them, me and Owen chatting, Jack giving me a hug, Ianto and his coffee, Tosh helping me with the computers, even Gwen inviting me over so I wouldn't have to stay at the Hub. The feeling of happiness washed over me, leaving me with a warm, cozy feeling. How could I get rid of _this?_ But then the images of the Master came back, leaving me in cold sweat. _Focus on the good stuff._

 _So scared. So, so scared._

 _But there's been good stuff._

 _Yeah... But still._

 _C'mon, do you really wanna get rid of the happy stuff?_

 _Not really._

That settled it. I wasn't gonna press the button. Not at the price of the good stuff. That's when Seb walked in. "Made a decision yet?"

"I can't press that button. Yeah, my life's been pretty messed up, but there's been bright spots." He frowned a bit and said, "I'm sorry to hear that." Then he flicked through my file a bit more. Than his eyes widened. " _Oh._ That complicates things."

"What?" I cried.

"Well, there's a way to bring you back to the living world."

"Send me back, then!" I cried.

"Well, it's hardly up to me, is it? No, I dunno if it's gonna work. We'll just have to wait and see." He said. I sighed with aggravation. "Is-is that normal?"

"What?"

"Being able to be brought back."

"Oh, no. No, that's very rare. Good for you, though. Although, I must say, there's not a good chance."

"W-What?"

"Unless you've got someone _extremely_ clever with you, there's not much of a chance that you'll be brought back."

I sighed with relief. "Thank God."

"Wait, you do have someone who can save you?"

"Yeah."

"Who is it?"

I looked at him. "Why d'you want to know?"

He shrugged and took the iPad from me, tapping it a few times. "Sometimes we can contact people outside of the Nethersphere. Sometimes they contact us."

"Oh." I said. He didn't make eye contact with me. "His name is the Doctor." I said finally. Seb nodded and typed something on the iPad. "The Doctor… good, good."

"D'you know him?"

"No."

I studied him carefully. If he was lying, he was good at it. "So, how clever _is_ this Doctor, anyways?"

"He's really, really smart. He's brilliant."

I hesitated before continuing. "Do you know the Time Lords?"

"Yep."

"He's the last of them."

Seb finally looked up, seemingly shocked. "You're kidding."

"No." I said, looking out over the city. Seb stood in shocked silence and closed the iPad. "I don't doubt he'll be able to bring you back."

He sounded disappointed. I wondered if that had anything to do with the emotions thing.


End file.
